Merlin at Hogwarts Book 3
by weir'wyvern-85
Summary: Everyone in the wizarding world is on the lookout for the escaped criminal Sirius Black, one of the most evil Death Eaters, but he is not the only escaped criminal, another one has escaped and she's out for blood of those who do not really work for the Dark Lord. Merlin is in for an interesting year with new classes and a new teacher. I do not own Merlin or Harry Potter.
1. Chapter 1

Merlin and Arthur Pendragon were sitting together on a park bench a few blocks away from their father's home. Merlin, who had been cornered and beaten after walking home from here the previous year kept looking around him anxiously and jumping at every small noise.

Gaius, the boy's new guardian since he had left Uther, had been wary about letting him go back to the place where he had been so hurt but Arthur had insisted that everything would be fine. He had taken Merlin to meet Arthur at the park not wishing to tell Uther that his two sons would be seeing each other that night before going to work and St. Mungos.

Morgana Pendragon, the boy's sister, was off spending the month with the Malfoy family which neither Arthur nor Merlin were happy about. When Morgana had asked their father if it would be okay, he had seen no fault in the people his daughter wanted to spend a month with.

"Stop jumping Merlin, it was just a squirrel" Arthur rolled his eyes at his brother as he looked over his shoulder in time to see a squirrel scampering up a tree.

"You never know" Merlin said back indignantly.

"Right, never know when a squirrel is going to go crazy and att—sorry" he said after seeing the look on his brother's face. Arthur had been upset when Merlin moved away and he wanted to act like everything was back to normal but he had just reminded the boy why he had moved in the first place. "Nothing's going to hurt you here"

"Why's that, cause you're here, I better start running" Merlin laughed and Arthur punched his arm "Hey!"

"I can take you on" Arthur said triumphantly. A mischievous smile curved Merlin's lips and he let his eyes glow. With no other warning, one of the trees that sat over the bench moved its limbs of its own accord and slapped Arthur with its leaves while Merlin laughed hysterically.

"Stop that!" Arthur grunted as he tried to smack the tree limb away from his head "Do you want to get expelled?"

"Of course not" Merlin said sobering up and stopping the enchantment on the tree "I've figured out over the summer that the trace that they have on all underage wizards doesn't apply to my special magic. As long as I don't use my wand, they have no idea that I'm using enchantments"

Once again Arthur rolled his eyes "Of course, so now you can use magic outside of school and I can't defend myself because they would know that I'm using my magic"

"Pretty much" Merlin replied happily.

"Have you found anything about why you have this magic?" Arthur asked. Merlin, before they had left for summer break the year before had told Arthur he was going to try and find out more about his strange magic.

"Yeah I did actually… well not why I have it, but I did figure out it's not just me. Morgana and Freya both have it, which you already knew, but so does Gaius"

"Gaius?" Arthur asked surprised.

Merlin nodded "Yeah, I was just going to ask him if he had ever heard about the Old Religion and he freaked out asking me where I had heard that. When I told him that Tom Riddle told me about it I thought he was going to faint he was so upset. After I told him the whole story he told me he could use some of that magic himself, though not much"

"Does he know why you have it?" Arthur asked.

Merlin shook his head "No, but he did say it was really rare and you can't just learn it".

Arthur nodded his head and leaned back against the back of the bench when Merlin asked "What about your sword, what'd you do with it?"

"It's hanging on the wall in my room, I had to tell father it was just a decoration before he'd let me keep it" Arthur explained his eyes glazing over slightly as he thought of his sword.

"Are you going to take it back to Hogwarts?" Merlin asked curiously. He could see how attached his brother was to that sword though he had no reason to be having only had it for less than a year.

"I'd like to, but I'm not so sure the teachers would appreciate me bringing a sword to school with me" Arthur explained "but I don't like the thought of leaving it behind either"

Merlin nodded, he felt similar, like he knew it would be a bad idea if anyone other than Arthur got their hands on the sword. He knew that if Arthur did not keep it close or Merlin did not know for sure that it was in a hard to access place, he would worry about the sword every second until he was sure it was safe.

"…I was actually thinking of asking you to transfigure it into a charm or something, so I could hang it on a necklace so I could keep it close—Melrin?"

Arthur looked over Merlin's shoulder to see what the boy was looking at and when he saw he stopped talking as well. A beautiful girl at least three years their senior with long black hair that reached down to the middle of her back and bright blue eyes was walking right towards them.

"Hey guys" she said sweetly "I was wondering if either of you would like a drink" she pointed to a small coffee shop across the street from the small park "the expiration date is tomorrow and if we don't give it away we'll have to throw it out, so how 'bout it?"

She held out a glass bottle of iced coffee to the two boys smiling brightly at them. Merlin, who was suddenly parched, held his hand out to take the drink "Sure, thanks"

She smiled wider and handed him the drink "Thanks, I hope you like it" she said flipping her hair over her shoulder and sauntering away back toward the coffee shop. The boy's did not notice however that she never went back into the coffee shop, instead she went to stand behind a line of trees where she could easily watch the two boys without being seen.

Merlin twisted the cap off the bottle and was about to drink it when he just stopped making Arthur ask "What's wrong?"

Merlin screwed the cap back on and set the bottle down between them "Just a weird feeling"

"Are you serious, I told you you're fine here, I'm not going to let anything bad happen this time Merlin, don't let that ruin your life" he said sadly.

Merlin shook his head, he did not know how to explain it, but something about the drink felt wrong to him "Come on _Mer_lin, a beautiful girl just gave you a free drink and you're not going to drink of it because of a bad feeling?"

Merlin shrugged, what Arthur was saying made sense but he felt like it would be a bad idea to drink the coffee.

Arthur snatched the bottle up "Fine, I'll drink it, what would Freya say anyway if she found out you were getting free drinks from other girls?"

"Probably the same thing Gwen would say when she found out you were getting free drinks" Merlin retorted.

"Gwen? What are you talking about, me and Gwen aren't together!" Arthur said defensively.

Merlin raised an eyebrow in a good imitation of Gaius "Really Arthur, you must be the only one who doesn't see it and I'm sure even that isn't true. Why do you keep denying it, you two are meant for each other and I would not want her to know that her man was looking at other girls" Merlin taunted pulling the drink out of his brother's hands.

"And you're not scared of Freya?" Arthur asked smirking as Merlin hesitated again.

"It's not like it means anything!" Merlin said defensively "she just had to get rid of it before it expired, plus she's way older than us"

"Keep telling yourself that while Freya yells at you" Arthur taunted.

"Whatever, I'm drinking it" Merlin said with a resolve he did not feel and twisted the cap off again and tipped the bottle back. The cold liquid slid down his throat satisfyingly.

Arthur was smirking when Merlin looked at him "What?"

"See, it wasn't so bad, not like it was poison or anything" he said as Merlin screwed the cap back onto the bottle.

"Guess you're right, it just kind of gets to me that I'm back here, I feel like someone's watching me just waiting to—Ar…Arthur!"

Merlin felt his heart begin to race and his throat close up. He was taking in deep gasps of breaths his lungs unable to fill with oxygen "_Ar—ur"_

"Merlin, Merlin!" Arthur was screaming his brother's name as the boy's face started to turn red and he began choking. "Stop Merlin, please—Help! Someone help us!"

Merlin was losing consciousness and was sliding out of the bench, Arthur tried to keep him from hitting the floor but the boy kept falling. His body lay unmoving on the grass, his right arm outstretched in front of him, his long fingers touching the sidewalk that they were sitting next to.

A loud bang interrupted Arthur's cries for help and a long, triple-decker, violently purple bus with gold lettering that read 'the Knight Bus' pulled up in front of the two boys, a lanky teenager stepping off. His face was covered in pimples and his brown hair was hanging in his eyes, but Arthur was not taking any of that in, only that there was a bus in front of him.

The boy was opening his mouth to speak, but Arthur beat him to it "Please, something's wrong with my brother, he just collapsed, we need to get to a hospital"

The boy looked down at Merlin's gasping body and nodded, he bent down to help Arthur pick the boy up, Arthur's hand locked around the coffee, and they lifted the boy into the bus "St. Mungo's, Ern, it's an emergency".

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**.**

** First chapter of book 3, sorry you had to wait so long, I've been busy and I had an idea for two short fics. I'm still busy so I don't know when I'll be able to upload chapter 2, so I was nice enough to leave you with a bit of a cliffhanger, you're welcome! Please R&R.**


	2. Chapter 2

Stan, as the boy introduced himself, and Arthur placed Merlin's writhing body down on one of the bedsteads behind the driver, Stan calling over his shoulder "Step on it, Ern"

With another deafening bang that had Merlin groaning, the bus shot forward with such speed it had Arthur falling onto the ground. Stan looked down at Arthur with a slight grin on his face that really annoyed the blonde.

"'Choo don't happen to go to Hogwarts by any chance, do ya?" he asked.

"Yeah, why?" Arthur asked picking himself up from the ground as the bus evened out its speed which Arthur could feel was way too fast for a normal bus which was good for Merlin.

"We just dropped off 'arry Potter at the Leaky Cauldron not twenty minutes ago, ain't tha' righ' Ern? He looked about the same age as you and yer friend there" Stan motioned to the unconscious boy.

"You took Harry to the Leaky Cauldron?" Arthur asked taken aback by that. He had not been expecting to hear about anyone from school, of course he had not expected his brother to be poisoned or to be riding a magic bus that night either.

"Yeah, strange thing though, said 'is name was Neville" Stan said with a grin on his face like he had just gotten a treat.

"Sounds like him" Arthur said somberly as his attention turned back to his brother. He knew Harry disliked all the fame that came with being him so it did not surprise him that he would try to hide who he was. Stan stopped talking for a moment once he noticed Arthur had went back to worrying.

"Wha' happened to 'em?" the boy asked Arthur who was unconsciously stroking Merlin's hair away from his eyes, he noticed he had broken into a sweat from his fever. The blonde was in no mood for small talk, but he decided there was no reason to be rude to boy.

"He drank something that turned out to be poison" he replied soberly.

"Why'd he go an' do tha' for?" Stan asked with a perplexed expression fixed on his face.

"He didn't know it was poison" Arthur said through his teeth and balling his hands into fists trying to keep from hitting the boy for insinuating Merlin was dumb enough to just pick up a cup of poison and drink it.

"Why'd you let 'em drink it then?" The only thing that kept the brunette boy from having a very painful black eye was the Knight bus screeching to a sudden stop though it did cause Arthur to fall over right into Stan making him fall as well.

"If you wouldn' mind gettin' off a me, we can get your friend here into the hospital" Stan said with a calm and seriousness that Arthur had not guessed the boy could muster.

Arthur nodded his head and the two boys picked themselves off the ground and then lifted Merlin between them and made their way off of the bus and onto the busy streets of London. Stan led Arthur to an old, run down, brick department store. Instead of walking to the door, which would have surprised the boy enough, Stan led them right through the window into a large reception area.

A blonde, bubbly looking witch sat behind a large desk with many signs hanging around it pointing to different wings of the hospital, looked up at the entrance. Before either boy was able to say anything the girl said "Poisonings are on floor three, just take the elevator"

"Er, thanks" Arthur mumbled "could you inform a Gaius Davies that his ward is here and that we're taking him up to the third floor?"

The blonde witch's eyes widened almost comically and she pointed at Merlin who was hanging limp between the two boys "That's Gaius's ward?"

"Yes, and he needs attention, now" Arthur said exasperated.

She picked up a white cord phone lying on her desk, punched in a few numbers before saying something into it and hanging it up. The woman came out from behind her post and said hurriedly as though they were the ones holding her up "Follow me!"

The young woman led them to an old elevator which Arthur was too preoccupied to really take in and pressed the button for level three. She tapped her foot impatiently as the elevator climbed each level of the building, crawling from one to two to three before dinging its arrival at the correct floor.

The elevator doors hissed open agonizingly slow to reveal an anxious, but familiar face that made Arthur want to cry out in relief.

"Merlin!" Gaius cried worriedly as he saw his ward being carried in by two boys, his brow sweaty with a fever and his head lolling in unconsciousness "Get me a bezoar, now!"

The witch nodded and ran into a room just opposite of the elevator, coming back out just as quickly as she had ducked in and handed the old physician what looked like a small round stone. Gaius took the stone in one hand and with the other coaxed Merlin's mouth open.

Arthur watched as the physician stuck the stonelike mass deep into the boys mouth and held his hand out for the woman to place a bottle of water in that he had not noticed her retrieving. The old man poured the liquid into his mouth and gently massaged his throat until he swallowed.

"Set him down on his side, gently!" Gaius instructed and the two boys quickly complied. No sooner than they had placed the boy down than he was regurgitating what seemed like all the contents in his stomach.

Finally, once he had stopped retching, Merlin opened his eyes, blinking at the invasive light that seared at his sensitive head, groaning in protest "What happened?"

"That's what I would like to know" came a concerned reply and he felt a gentle touch on his shoulder that helped him sit up.

"Gaius? When did you get here?" Merlin asked confused then looked around him "when did I go to a hospital?"

"Arthur brought you here, you were having a very bad reaction to some kind of toxin" Gaius explained as soothingly as he could, Merlin however did not pay so much attention to the tone as to the words.

"_Poison?!"_ He asked looking around him again until he found his brother's eyes.

He nodded his head warily "That woman, she poisoned your drink"

"What woman, what happened?" Gaius asked looking between his ward and his ward's brother.

They looked between each other trying to decide who would tell the story. Merlin won when he gave Arthur a look that clearly meant _I'm the one who got poisoned, you can tell them how it happened_.

"We were sitting in the park talking when this woman wearing a uniform from the coffee house across the street walks up with an iced coffee in her hands. She was saying the bottle expired the next day and she had to get rid of it and asked if either of us wanted it. Merlin took it and drank it, then the next thing I know, he's lying on the ground unconscious and some purple bus is sitting in front of me"

"Do you know who this woman was, or why she would try and poison either of you?" Gaius asked with a tone that stated clearly he would take no joking around. Both boys shook their head as he looked at them. Gaius closed his eyes and let out a sigh of indignation, "I'm just glad you're okay Merlin, but we'll have to call the ministry, they'll probably want you to tell them what happened so they can try and find who did this"

"I can tell you who did this right now" Merlin said with complete conviction.

"I thought you didn't know who she was?" asked Stan who Arthur and Gaius had forgotten was there, Merlin not having known in the first place though he did not let this show.

"I didn't, but now I'm staring right at her" he said pointed his finger right ahead of him. Everyone turned their heads to follow his line of sight to see a wanted poster depicting a slight woman with long dark hair and blue eyes flashing malevolently.

"Nimueh Gibbons" Gaius said ruefully under his breath as they stared at the moving picture next to another similar photograph, its own occupant moving around restlessly, the name under it identifying the man to be Sirius Black.

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**Another chapter completed, hope you liked it, sorry it was a little short, the last one was too, but they should get longer as the fic goes on. I'd like to thank all of my fans that continue to read my story and I hope you will stay with me through all seven books because, yes, I will be going through them all. Keep reviewing, it makes me happy and it makes me write faster!**


	3. Chapter 3

As soon as Gaius had seen who had poisoned his ward, he ordered the blonde witch to inform the ministry of magic right away. Two aurors were stepping out of the fire place before the small group had gotten Merlin off the floor and into a chair.

"Gaius" a dark skinned man wearing purple robes said by way of greeting while holding his hand out to the old physician.

"Kingsley" Gaius said warmly taking the man's proffered hand. The other auror stepped forward and offered his own hand which Gaius took.

"John Dawlish, are you the one who saw Nimueh?" he asked jumping right to the point.

"No, it was my ward and his brother" Gaius explained pointing to where Merlin was sitting weakly in one of the chairs that lined the small waiting room they had moved in to.

Dawlish took a step forward, planning to ask the boys about what happened but Kingsley put a hand on his shoulder and stepped in front of him. The man held his hand out to Arthur as he introduced himself to both boys "My name is Kingsley Shacklebolt, I'm an auror for the Ministry of Magic, and this is my partner Dawlish behind me. What are your names?"

Arthur took in a deep sigh knowing it was going to make them react when they heard his answer "Arthur and Merlin Pendragon"

Kingsley did not let his face show any emotion but he did put one of his hands on Arthur's shoulder, "I know what happened must have scared you, but you have nothing to fear by giving us your real names, we're here to help"

Merlin could not help himself, he started laughing which of course had everyone looking at him like he was crazy so he stopped quickly. Kingsley gave him another appraising look before turning back to Arthur hoping to get some more common names.

"Kingsley" Gaius interrupted "that is their real names I assure you"

Kingsley did even better with keeping his emotions hidden this time as Merlin was sure he was very embarrassed at the moment. "Right, of course, well then, could one of you tell me exactly what happened?"

Arthur gave him the whole story, explaining why the boys were in the park, how the woman had just walked up to them, and the way Merlin had just collapsed after drinking the coffee, Merlin adding in any details Arthur forgot to mention. When they were done with the story and the two aurors seemed to have everything they needed, Arthur finally decided to ask "Who is this woman?"

The aurors gave each other identical looks that said they did not want to explain it, but it ended up being Dawlish's turn to talk "She was one of the Dark Lord's most loyal Death Eaters… and one of the most evil. No one has ever escaped from Azkaban prison before, that's where all the convicted Death Eaters were sent, but she was the second within a week"

"Who was the first?" Merlin asked morbidly curious.

"Sirius Black, one of the more widely destructive Death Eaters, it is believed that the two were working together to break out so that they could find their old master… and rid him of his enemies"

"Harry?" Arthur boldly asked and the two aurors nodded grimly.

After that day, Gaius started keeping a much closer eye on his ward not letting him go out without Gaius with him and only letting him and Arthur see each other if Arthur came to Gaius's. In that way, time went by until they received their annual letters from Hogwarts with their new list of supplies.

"I suppose we'll need to be making a trip to Diagon Alley then?" Gaius said looking up when the delivery owl hooted in triumph at having found its letter's intended recipient.

Merlin nodded around his breakfast looking over the new list of supplies. He would need new books to go along with his new classes this year as well as advanced books for his other classes. He was also going to have to get a new set of robes as he was growing out of his others.

"Can Arthur and Morgana come along?" he asked.

"I assumed you would ask, I see no problem with it, just make sure Uther will be alright with them coming" Gaius conditioned.

Merlin nodded before wolfing down the rest of his breakfast and going to write a letter to send to Arthur and Morgana.

By the end of that week Arthur, Merlin and Gaius were standing in Diagon Alley looking over their lists trying to decide where to start. Morgana had decided not to go with her brothers as she had already accepted the Malfoy's invitation to go with them.

"Let's get our books, I want to see what the _Monster book of Monsters_ is" Merlin said scanning over the book list.

"Sounds good" Arthur shrugged and the three started walking toward Flourish and Blotts. The usual golden script books that could be seen lining the windows of the book store were gone, and in their place were large iron cages holding a large amount of hairy, monstrous books.

Monstrous was the perfect word for them, when they came into the book store and the assistant bookkeeper found out they were Hogwarts third-years he nearly cried. The little hairy books inside of the cages turned out to be _The Monster Book of Monsters_, and they loved to bite.

"Hey Arthur, Merlin" Merlin heard someone say as the door to the bookshop was pulled open.

"Leon, hey" Arthur said jovially as the boy walked up to them "I didn't know you were coming today"

"Yeah, have you seen the list of books, who do you think wants us to have _The Monster Book of Monsters_?" When the assistant heard this he let out a loud sob and opened the gate.

A few hours later found the boys, who Gaius had decided would be safe enough on the streets of Diagon Alley for a few hours, sitting at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor each eating a different flavor of the delicious treat.

"What's this, you just went and got your own Ice Cream without even thinking to check that there weren't some other hungry people walking around the street?" asked Lance who had walked up behind Leon, Percy next to him a smile playing on his face.

"Every man for himself, Lance" Arthur responded with a chuckle and the two boys pulled up their own chairs and ordered two more scoops. After they had finished their snack, Lance and Percy told them they had not yet gotten their books so the boys made another trip to Flourish and Blotts and Merlin was sure the assistant bookkeeper was trying to block the door with the broom he was supposedly using to sweep up under the cage of monster books.

When all five boys had bought everything on their lists, they went to look at the Quidditch shop, Merlin sure that they were going to spend at least an hour there if the other boys had any say. Right in the front window, a model of the newest release in brooms stood in perfect view, the Firebolt, and goggling at it just like the others was Harry Potter.

The others being to transfixed on the broom to say anything, Merlin called out the dark haired kid "Hey Harry, what are you doing?"

He turned around and waved at Merlin "Just window shopping right now, you getting your school stuff?"

"Yeah, of course we had to stop by here" he looked over his shoulder at his friends who were still ogling the broom "this seems to be the only store that can hold their interests for longer than five seconds"

Harry laughed as he looked at their faces "I was like that the first day I saw it too"

"First day?" asked Merlin.

"I've been staying at the Leaky Cauldron for the past week, and I'm going to be here until School starts" Harry explained "I got into a bit of a large row with my family"

"I can understand" Merlin nodded thinking of Uther "So have you just been walking the streets every day?"

"Pretty much, I've been told to just stay around Diagon Alley" Harry shrugged.

"Because of those escapees from Azkaban?" Merlin asked in a low tone.

Harry looked surprised that Merlin knew about that but he nodded "Yeah, 'cause of Sirius Black, apparently he's some mass murderer, killed thirteen people with one curse"

"_One_ curse?" Merlin asked astonished, no wonder they were so worried about him, but he did not understand why the Aurors seemed more worried about Nimueh.

"Do you know anything about the other one, Nimueh Gibbons?" Merlin asked curiously.

Harry shook his head "Just that she's supposedly his accomplice or something, last I heard she was seen somewhere just outside of London"

Merlin rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly "Yeah, I heard that too…"

Harry raised his eyebrows in a way that said he just put something together "They said she tried to poison a Hogwarts student, was that _you?_"

"Been reading the _Daily Prophet?_" Merlin guessed then sighed "Yeah, that was me, but I'd prefer it if not a lot of people knew about it"

"Of course not, but why'd she try and poison you?"

"We don't know, Arthur and I were just sitting in the park, we didn't know she was some escaped criminal, she offered me a free drink, and, well I took it. Turned out the thing was poisoned but Arthur got me to the hospital and I'm fine now" Merlin explained.

"Hey Harry! When did you get here?" Merlin rolled his eyes as Arthur _just_ noticed Harry talking to him.


	4. Chapter 4

Once again, the day arrived when the students of Hogwarts were to board the train that would take them to school. Merlin, Arthur and Morgana were saying their goodbyes to Gaius who had offered to Uther to see them off. The muggle man refused to take part in sending his children to a school of Witchcraft, but after the visit he had received from Madam Sprout the year before, he did not try to hinder his children from going to the magical school.

Gaius wrapped Merlin in a firm hug saying to him "Be careful my boy, I'm not sure how much my heart can take, do try not to get into trouble this year"

"I never tried in the first place" Merlin said defensively as he stepped out of his guardian's embrace. The old physician then pulled Morgana and Arthur into one as well.

"The both of you had better keep yourselves safe as well" he said with a pointed look for both of them.

"Of course Gaius, and don't worry, I'll keep the two of them out of trouble as best I can" Morgana said reassuringly.

"Morgana!" a blonde headed witch called from behind them and Morgana whirled around shouting back happily "Morgause!"

In no time at all, Morgana had taken her trunk up and ran after the blonde witch leaving Arthur and Merlin standing alone with Gaius.

"Keep us out of trouble indeed" Arthur mumbled and they all laughed.

"You'd best be getting on board now, write to me, the both of you, understood?" Gaius waited for them each to nod their promise before he ushered them onto the train.

Gwen was waiting in an empty compartment staring out of the train window watching the other students as they said their goodbyes to their families, she turned around when she heard the compartment door sliding back "Arthur! Merlin!"

"Gwen" Arthur said happily as he took the seat next to the dark skinned girl "How was your summer?"

"It was wonderful, my parents took Elyan and I to see—" she started but was interrupted as the door slid open again.

A small dark haired girl with large dark eyes was standing in the doorway timidly asking "Hey, can I sit with you?"

"Of course Freya" Merlin replied quickly and moved over to make room for her on the seat.

"Thanks Merlin" she smiled appreciatively sitting next to the young boy, "Hi Arthur, Gwen"

"It's great to see you Freya, how was your summer?" Gwen asked and Arthur gave a polite greeting under Gwen's enthusiastic one.

"It was wonderful, my grandmother took me camping for most of it" she said happily "what about you?"

"Well, I was just telling—" Gwen started her tried to restart her story when she was interrupted again.

"Hey guys, looks pretty cozy in here" Gwaine observed smirking from the door of the compartment.

"Gwaine" Arthur nodded in his direction as both the girls said 'hello'.

"Sit down Gwaine, there's room" Merlin offered, there was room for at least two other people in the compartment, four if they did not mind a tight fit.

"Nah, that's alright, think I'll go and sit with the other Knights, and leave the four of you to your selves" he laughed as Freya's face turned pink and Arthur gave him an annoyed look. "Have a good trip, Princess"

With those parting words, they saw him move over to the compartment right across the walkway, their other friends waving at them. Merlin noticed Lance looked a little crestfallen and he was not sure if he was imagining that his eyes seemed to keep straying to Gwen.

The train soon set off and Gwen went back to explaining about her summer. Apparently she and her brother got to watch a professional Quidditch match and one of the players signed a poster for Gwen. Freya made the girl promise to show her the poster as soon as they got to the common room.

"Freya, what's this?" Merlin asked looking at what he had thought was a carryon case before it started hissing. Now that he was paying attention, he noticed the slits running down its sides and that it had a wire front that could be opened. Looking inside, he saw that there was a sleek tortoiseshell cat staring back at him with wide green eyes that looked far too intelligent.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, my Gran bought me a cat, her name is Mage" she said putting a hand on top of the carrier. The cat turned to the girl and let out a soft mewl and rubbed her cheek against the wall of the carrier.

"She's adorable" Gwen said leaning in to see the tortoiseshell better. The cat blinked back at the girl with contentment.

"I was worried she would be upset with so many people at the station, but she seems to do really well with traveling, I just hope she gets on all right with the other Hufflepuff cats" Freya said to Gwen who was nodding her head.

Merlin felt a cold chill run down his spine causing him to look around the small compartment. There was nothing to be seen so he turned to look out of the window, and just as he did the train started slowing its pace.

"We can't be there yet" Gwen mused looking out the window as well, Arthur choosing to look out of the compartment door. Merlin stayed where he was, sure that whatever was happening was not going to be good.

"Freya, switch seats with me" he said quietly. She looked at him confused but did as he asked so that he was between her and the door, the cat still sitting between them, her fur raised in warning, ears pressed down onto her head.

"Do you know what's going on?" Arthur asked and Merlin heard Gwaine replying they had no idea. The train jolted as it came to a stop and Arthur lost his balance and fell back into his seat "What _is_ going on?"

"Mage" Freya cooed to her growling cat then let out a squeak of fear as the all the lights shut off so the students were in the dark, only the dim light from the window lighting the compartment.

"The windows" Gwen whispered and they all looked to see the window slowly being covered in ice. Arthur shifted slightly so that he was in front of Gwen and they all looked apprehensively at the door, expecting something to come in.

They heard the door slide open, both boys tensed, ready to tackle whatever was threatening them when a scared whisper broke the silence, "Arthur? Merlin?"

"Morgana?" Arthur asked confused and Merlin heard the girl move closer to his voice and he was pretty sure she had sat down next to him.

"I was just getting changed when the lights went out, I thought this was where you were, I couldn't find Morgause" she explained the squealed when the door slid open again.

"It's just me" Lance said soothingly as he entered the small compartment "I just came to make sure everyone was okay"

"Whatever Lance" Gwaine said from behind him, pushing him farther into the small space that was quickly becoming smaller "It was my idea, you were just closer to the door"

"Gwen, are you okay?" asked Elyan pushing the other two boys farther into the cramped space.

"Any more room?" Percy asked "Leon here thought it would be a bad idea to just stay alone in the other compartment"

"Yeah, it was _my_ idea" Leon said sarcastically as Percy pushed him into the too small place.

"Well, if you all insist on being in here, then would you _please_ sit down and stop standing on my _foot!_" Arthur said irritably. There was a great deal of shuffling as everyone tried to sit down, Gwen ended up sitting on her brother's lap, Mage's carrier was in Freya's hands, and Merlin was squished between the small girl and Gwaine.

They were still squabbling about something when that bone chilling feeling deepened inside of Merlin "Everyone, _shut _up!"

Unaccustomed to Merlin telling them to shut up, everyone quickly closed their mouths and just in time for them to hear the door sliding open yet again. This time however, it was sliding much slower than any of the times before, sinisterly.

A long, thin hand with mottled skin was hooked around the sliding door, pure black behind it as the space widened. The creature attached to the hand came into view and the more they saw of it the more they wished they could only see the hand. A large black cloaked figure that seemed to drain all the light away from the world stood before them, a noise like a horrible hissing issuing from its mouth, Mage hissing right back.

Large clumps of ice settled into Merlin's stomach right where he usually felt the heat of his abnormal magic and with it the deepest fear he could remember feeling, the fear that comes with helplessness. He felt Gwaine pushing him farther back, the other boy doing his best to put himself in front of him as he moved through the terror he was likely experiencing as well, he was about to give in, to lose his mind to that numbing panic when he felt a pressure on his hand.

Freya had slipped her small hand into his own, her warm flesh melting the ice in the pit of his stomach, unfreezing his magic, helped along by the small sparks he could feel that was her own source of Old magic. He tightened his hold on her small fingers and he felt her return the pressure.

Taking a deep breath, he released the fire that was his magic, and he let it fill the compartment and let it envelop his friends to fend off the cold the creature brought with it. A golden light filled the small space, the color his eyes turned whenever he used Old Magic, and the creature stepped back from it.

"Get out" Merlin hissed through his teeth and the creature fell out of the tiny room leaving them alone in their seats.

The train started moving again soon after that, the lights and the heat coming back on. Everyone stayed together in the small compartment for the rest of the trip even though it was such a tight fit. Whatever the creature had been, it had affected them all and none of them were ready to be alone. The ride to school was a long and quiet one.

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**So, I couldn't help but notice that I don't have that many reviews for this fic. In case you're lost or anything, the place to leave reviews is the small box just under all of this text. I'm not saying that I'm going to stop updating so fast if you do not keep reviewing, but I may just end up being very busy right after my next cliffhanger, so please R&R. **


	5. Chapter 5

It only took ten minutes to reach the station at Hogesmade, but even that was not enough time to get them all to stop shivering from their encounter with the dark creature. When they pulled into the station at Hogesmade, the students quickly hurried onto the stagecoaches that were waiting for the students.

Elyan and Morgana joined the Merlin, Arthur, Freya, and Gwen in one of the coaches leaving the others to ride in another. Elyan, who seemed to be coming around faster than the others, looked over at the dark haired boy sitting across from him "What did you do Merlin?"

Merlin looked up at the Ravenclaw boy. His eyes were wide with awe and confusion and his hand was still firmly clasped around Gwen's much the way Arthur had his protectively around Morgana's. He shrugged his shoulders "I don't know, I just felt really cold and kind of cut off from my magic, then Freya grabbed my hand and the ice just melted… I felt like I could drive them away if I concentrated, so I did"

"You just concentrated?" Elyan summed up with clear disbelief and Merlin just shrugged again.

Merlin was saved trying to find another way to explain how he had defeated the creature by the carriage coming to a stop in front of the castle. Merlin rushed out of the carriage calling behind him "Let's get inside, I'm starving"

The others followed, though at a more sedate pace, after Freya had run to catch up with Merlin. The Great Hall was set up as usual when expecting young first years. Floating candles hovered around the room, the night sky was reflected above their heads and the rest of the school was taking their seats along the four tables that ran through the room.

Arthur, Gwaine and Merlin split away from the rest of their friends to take their seats with the rest of the Gryffindor's. Sitting down, the boys found the entire table was set with small chocolates, something that was unusual before the feast had started, but Gwaine went right for them.

As soon as he threw one of the small morsels in his mouth, his face seemed to regains some of its color and his normal grin came back into place "You guys have got to try these"

Arthur looked at the other boy quizzically for a moment before reaching out and taking his own small chocolate. The color in his face came back instantly and he looked like a giant load had just been taken off of his shoulders.

Curious about the effects they had had on his friends, Merlin took up his own tiny candy and stuck it into his mouth. As the treat melted in Merlin's mouth warmth spread through his body thawing out his numbed senses.

"Welcome once again to another year at Hogwarts!" they heard the familiar voice of their headmaster as he stood up at the podium. "Let the sorting begin"

At his last word, the two doors to the Great Hall opened and a parade of kids followed Professor Sprout down the center aisle. She motioned for the children to stop and she placed the stool and the familiar hat down in front of them.

"When I call your name, please come and sit on the stool and put on the hat" she instructed and started calling names. Merlin clapped with the others as new Gryffindor's were named, and smiled graciously as other kids were sorted into different houses.

"Yaxley, Mordred" she called and Merlin's head snapped up. He found the young boy who responded to the name. He was one of the smaller children in the line and he had dark hair and pale skin with blue eyes that seemed to glow.

Mordred walked with a careless gait that was far too slow for Merlin's liking. He found himself chanting under his breath asking whoever would listen that the boy would not be sorted into their house. It took the longest time Merlin could remember waiting for the hat to make a decision before it screamed out the House Merlin knew it would.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

He felt as though a dementor had just snuck up behind him and placed one of its dead hands on his shoulder. A numbing cold spread through his body that kept him from clapping with the rest of his house to welcome the newcomer who sat down just across from him. The two's eyes met, neither smiling at the other, eyes trying to take in everything.

"So Mordred, that's an interesting name" Arthur commented pulling the boy's gaze away from Merlin's.

"Yeah, my parents seemed to think no one else would have it and they wanted my name to be unique, they got what they wanted. What are your names?" the boy asked pleasantly.

Gwaine grinned wolfishly "Well, you came to the right place with a name like that. I'm Gwaine, this is Arthur, and across from you is Merlin"

Mordred's eyebrows rose slightly to hear these names, but unlike most he did not ask if they were joking, and Merlin was sure it was because he must hear that question pointed at him so much. The boy's ice cold gaze moved back to Merlin and again they stared each other down.

They were interrupted this time when Professor McGonagall, Harry and Hermione came into the Great Hall just in time for Dumbledore to start his speech. "I am glad to welcome our new students to Hogwarts and I hope that the older students will take care to make them feel at home" Merlin was sure that the Headmaster's gaze landed on him as he said this though he had no idea how he could know the mistrust he was feeling for Mordred already.

"I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast…."

"As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the dementors of Azkaban, are here on Ministry of Magic business.

"They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds, and while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises—or even Invisibility Cloaks" Merlin did not miss how Dumbledore's eyes landed on Harry "It is not in the nature of a dementor to understand pleading or excuses. I therefore warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to the prefects, and our new Head Boy and Girl, to make sure that no student runs afoul of the dementors.

"On a happier note, I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year.

"First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher" Merlin, Arthur, Gwaine, and Mordred nodded politely, some of only the few who did. The man wore tattered looking clothes, his hair hang in his eyes and his skin looked pale, and his whole demeanor looked shabby next to the other Professors. Merlin noticed the way Professor Snape's lip curled up in disgust as he stared detestably at Lupin.

"As to our second new appointment" Dumbledore continued "Well, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettlebum, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagird, who has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to his gamekeeping duties." The whole room exploded in applause, the Slytherin table the only one not whole-heartedly adding their approval, the first years confused at who this man was were applauding less enthusiastically as those above their grade.

Dumbledore was smiling happily at the students reactions, next to him Professor McGonagall was adding her own applause. Professor Snape was still staring at Lupin as though plotting ways to either slip him a fatal potion or at least make his life here as hard as he could manage. Lupin himself was smiling happily to hear Hagrid's appointment as a Professor and was clapping along with the students and Professor McGonagall. Hagrid himself was wiping at his eyes with the tablecloth.

"Well, I think that is everything of importance, let the feast begin!" plates upon plates filled the dining tables and the studnets began to pile their own plates full of the delicious food that had just appeared before them. Merlin, still discontented by Mordred's presence, ate only half of what he normally would have, though he tried not to let his discomfort show.

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**Term starts next chapter, and first thing on the schedule—divination followed soon after by DFDA! Hope you enjoy, as always, please keep reading and please review. **


	6. Chapter 6

"It's the first day and you're already sleeping in?" Merlin asked in amazement as he looked over his two bleary eyed friends who obviously had no plans of waking up in time for classes.

"That's why we have you mate" Gwaine grinned sleepily as he started getting dressed for the day, Arthur doing the same.

"What's the big deal Merlin, we knew you'd get us up on time" Arthur shrugged his shoulders.

"What would happen if _I_ slept in one morning, who would get us up then?" Merlin asked annoyed.

"I wish you would sleep in one morning, I could use a day off to rest" Gwaine said happily.

"It's only the first day, Gwaine" Arthur looked at him with a smirk on his face.

"Yes, but all that homework assigned over the summer was exhausting, especially when you did most of it on the train ride here" he winked at them over his shoulder before leading the three boys out of their room and toward the Great Hall.

The three boys sat down next to Harry, Ron and Hermione who were already enjoying their breakfast, Hermione passing three scrolls down to them "Third years class schedule"

"Thanks Hermione" Gwaine said with a wink which Hermione smiled politely at and Merlin could have sworn made Ron's ears turn red.

Merlin unrolled the schedule and looked at the first thing for the day "Divination, first thing"

"We'll get to see everyone then" Gwaine replied happily, his schedule laying forgotten next to his breakfast plate which was holding all of his attention.

"I suppose you expect me to keep up with your schedule as well then?" Merlin asked him with an amused smile as the boy nodded past a mouthful of food which kept him from talking.

"Gwaine, learn some manners, you could at least tell him that he needs to keep up with it, otherwise he might forget" Arthur smirked at Merlin who scowled at his brother.

"Can I sit here?" asked a timid voice over Merlin's shoulder. He looked over to see Mordred, the young boy who had been sorted the night the before.

"Sure, go ahead" Merlin replied pleasantly. He still got a strange feeling when the boy was around, but that was no reason to be mean to him. The boy smiled appreciatively and sat down next to Merlin, filling his plate full of food.

Hagrid came into the Great Hall then, absentmindedly swinging a dead polecat from one of his large hands. "All righ'?" he asked them jovially "Yer in my firs' ever lesson! Right after lunch! Bin up since five getting" everythin' ready…. Hope it's okeay…. Me, a teacher...hones'ly…."

"Wonder what he's been getting ready?" Merlin heard Ron say apprehensively.

When Merlin and the others arrived at the North tower where the Divination classroom was supposed to be found though they could only see a trap door in the ceiling, the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students were already there.

"Get lost?" Elyan asked cheerfully greeting his friends.

"No, we just took our time enjoying our breakfast" Gwaine replied taking a large bite of a red apple he had filched from the breakfast table.

"Still enjoying it?" Gwen giggled and Gwaine winked in response.

"Where's Morgana?" Arthur asked curiously as he took a seat next to Lance and Percy, most of the rest of the class doing the same.

"I'm right here" Morgana said tiredly as she came up to the small landing where the rest of the class was assembled.

"I thought you'd be the first one up here" Merlin smiled at her.

She grinned back ruefully "I was, but then I realized I forgot my _Unfogging the Future_ Book back in my dormitory. This place is nowhere near the Slytherin dormitories!"

"Are there even any other Slytherins in this class?" Merlin asked looking around at the other members of the class.

"Not many do apparently, Morgause told me she was the only Slytherin in her class as well" Morgana said setting her things on the floor in front of her and sitting down heavily beside Gwaine.

Just then, Harry, Hermione and Ron walked up to the landing panting as though they had run up the steps. Harry looked around the landing confused until he spotted the trapdoor in the ceiling "How're we supposed to get up there?"

As though in answer to his question, a silver ladder came down out of the now open trapdoor and landed at his feet.

Smiling cheekily Ron waved his hand forward with a cheerful "After you".

They filed into the room and all took their seats at the round tables that could be found throughout the dark, warm room. Merlin, Arthur, Gwaine, Gwen and Morgana sat together at one table, Lance, Percy, Elyan and Leon at one close to the others.

From one of the darker corners of the room, a misty sort of voice had the students falling silent "Welcome. How nice to see you in the physical world at last"

Professor Trelawney moved into the firelight so that everyone could see her "Sit, my children, sit" she instructed those students who had not already taken a seat as she herself sat in a winged armchair placed in front of the fire.

"Welcome to Divination. My name is Professor Trelawney. You may not have seen me before. I find that descending too often into the hustle and bustle of the main school clouds my Inner Eye.

"So you have chosen to study Divination, the most difficult of all magical arts. I must warn you at the outset that if you do not have the Sight, there is very little able to teach you. Books can take you only so far in this field…"

"Like I need books" scoffed Morgana so that only the people at her table could hear "I have dreams every night and I didn't need a book for those"

"Many witches and wizards, talented thought they are in the area of loud bangs and smells and sudden disappearings, are yet unable to penetrate the veiled mysteries of the future. "It is a Gift granted to few" Morgana grunted at the word Gift and Merlin sympathized with her feelings—he had stayed up enough nights trying to calm her down that he understood the pain it could cause.

"You boy," she pointed at Neville who looked shocked at being pointed out so early on in a class "Is your Grandmother well?"

"I think so" Neville said tremulously.

"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you, dear" Neville looked down at his table worriedly and Trelawney went back to talking about her course "We will be covering the basic methods of Divination this year. The first term will be devoted to reading the teal leaves. Next term we shall progress t palmistry. By the way my, my dear" she looked over to Parvati Patil "beware a red-headed man" Ron's face went red as the girl looked over at him distrustfully.

"In the second term we shall progress to the crystal ball—if we have finished with fire omens, that is. Unfortunately, classes will be disrupted in February by a nasty bout of flu. I myself will lose my voice. And around Easter, one of our number will leave us forever."

The room grew quiet but Professor Trelawney seemed unaware, instead she turned to Lavender Brown "I wonder dear, if you could pass me the largest silver teapot?"

The girl passed her the teapot "Thank you, my dear. Incidentally, that thing you are dreading—it will happen on Friday the sixteenth of October"

"Now, I want you all to divide into pairs. Collect a teacup from the shelf, come to me, and I will fill it" Morgana and Merlin quickly moved closer to each other signaling that they were working together, leaving Arthur and Gwaine to pair up. "Then sit down and drink, drink until only the dregs remain. Swill these around the cup three times with the left hand, then turn the cup upside down to its saucer, wait for the last of the tea to drain away, then give your cup to your partner to read. You will interpret the patterns using pages five and six of _Unfogging the Future_. I shall move among you, helping and instructing. Oh, and dear," she caught Neville by the arm as he stood up "after you've broken your first cup, would you be so kind as to select one of the blue patterned ones? I'm rather attached to the pink."

Just as she predicted, Neville dropped one of her cups only for it to shatter on the floor. Merlin and Morgana did as instructed and swapped cups once they had drained them, Merlin looking down at his cup to see nothing that looked like the future "You go first".

"Alright" Morgana said apprehensively as she opened the pages of her volume of _Unfogging the Mind_. Taking a deep breath, she looked down into the tea cup and her eyes flashed that brilliant gold color that bespoke of magic of the Old Religion.

She was quiet for a moment, staring into the depths of the cup until her eyes faded back into their normal green. She looked Merlin straight in the eyes and began to talk "I saw a dark forest, trees everywhere lit only by the moon. A wolf howling, standing on two legs. A great black dog injured as though it had just been a fight limping towards a lake. A woman, with a red dress on, eyes as blue as ice and just as cold with hair that blended into the night. And a creature—it was like a horse with the face and wings of an eagle…."

"You described a Hippogriff my dear" Professor Trelawney said stepping up behind the two siblings and breaking the tension Merlin was starting to feel as Morgana spoke. She had described Nimueh almost perfectly.

The teacher took Merlin's cup into her hands and clicked her teeth in disapproval "My dear, are you sure you were reading your book correctly, the tea leaves in this cup speak of a loss, but not of a forest or any kind of wolf. A good try, but you should look more carefully next time".

She walked away to Harry and Ron's table and snatched Harry's cup from Ron's hand as Morgana sat back in her chair obviously pouting "Let me see that, my dear"

She stared into the teacup, rotating it every few seconds "The falcon… my dear, you have a deadly enemy"

"But everyone knows _that_" Hermione said in a whisper that carried through the whole room. Trelawney sent her a look and Hermione replied defensively "Well, they do. Everyone knows about Harry and You -Know-Who."

Everyone was shocked to hear Hermione speak like that to a teacher but Trelawney did not reply, instead she turned her attention back to Harry's cup.

"The club… an attack. Dear, dear, this is not a happy cup…. The skull… danger in your path, my dear….." Everyone was staring at Professor Trelawney, all except for Hermione and Morgana, when she let out a loud scream.

She sat heavily in her armchair, a hand at her heart and her eyes closed "My dear boy… my poor, dear boy… no… it is kinder not to say… no… don't ask me…"

"What is it, Professor?" Dean Thomas pressed, the whole class holding their breath.

"My dear," she looked to Harry with huge eyes "you have the Grim."

"The what?" Harry asked confused as most of the class took in horrified breaths.

"The Grim, my dear, the Grim! The giant, spectral dog that haunts churchyards! My dear boy, it is an omen—the worst omen—of _death!"_

Merlin watched Harry's face pale and saw Morgana roll her eyes before he heard Hermione say "I don't think it looks like the Grim"

Professor Trelawney gave her an annoyed look "You'll forgive me for saying so, my dear, but I perceive very little aura around you. Very little receptivity to the resonances of the future".

Seamus Finnigan was tilting his own head to the side as he looked in Harry's cup "It looks like a Grim if you do this" he had both of his eyes nearly shut then he moved his head to the left "but it looks like a donkey from here"

"When you've all finished deciding whether I'm going to die or not!" Harry said hotly and Merlin could hardly blame him, it was a bit of a touchy subject.

"I think we will leave the lesson here for today" said Professor Trelawney, and Merlin was sure he heard a cheerful tone under her worried one "Yes… please pack away your things…" They hurried and put away their teacups and nearly ran down the ladder and the steps leading away from the North Tower.

"Looks like a fun class" Gwaine said cheerfully as they sat down in the Transfiguration classroom.

"Yeah, looks like we'll be having a very devastating year" Merlin responded as the rest of the class came in.

"Welcome back" Professor McGonagall said standing up "Now, just because it's the start of term, don't expect that we won't be doing any work today. I want you all to take out your textbooks and find the chapter on Animagi. The first person able to tell me what they are gets ten points for his or her house"

Without even touching the cover of her book, Hermione's hand flew into the air and Professor McGonagall nodded for her to go ahead "Animagi are wizards who are able to turn themselves into animals at will. To do this though takes a lot of practice and you have to register as one with the Ministry of Magic, including your physical appearance in that form"

Professor McGonagall nodded approvingly "Ten points, Gryffindor. The reason you have to register as an Animagus is so that the Ministry is able to keep up with you or in case something goes wrong with your transformation".

With that she waved her wand and her whole body shrunk down into the form of a grey tabby cat with spectacle markings around its eyes. When no one made much of a fuss about seeing their teacher turn into a cat she popped back into her normal form "Really, what has got into you all today? Not that it matters, but that's the first time my transformation's not got applause from a class".

Most of the class turned to look at Harry though no one said anything until Hermione raised her hand "Please Professor, we've just had our first Divination class, and we were reading the tea leaves, and—"

"Ah, of course, there is no need to say any more, Miss Granger. Tell me, which of you will be dying this year?"

Merlin wanted to laugh at the way she said it, obviously Professor Trelawney had a reputation for this. Finally Harry spoke up from the back of the class room "Me".

"I see" said Professor McGonagall "Then you should know Potter, that Sibyll Trelawney has predicted the death of one student a year since she arrived at this school. None of them has died yet. Seeing death omens is her favorite way of greeting a new class. If it were not for the fact that I never speak ill of my colleagues—" Professor McGonagall trailed off.

"Divination si one of the most imprecise branches of magic. I shall not conceal from you that I have very little patience with it True Seers are very rare, nad Professor Trelawney—"

She shook her head then looked back to Harry "You look in excellent health to me Potter, so you will excuse me if I don't let you off homework today. I assure you that if you die, you need not hand it in".

Most everyone laughed at Professor McGonagall's joke, even Merlin chuckled. That took care of Trelawney's prophesy, but what about Morgana's?

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**Sorry, I know I said that the DFDA class would be in this chapter but it was a little longer than I anticipated so I decided to split it up. Please keep reading, and if you have nothing better to do, you might as well drop me a review, if you'd like too of course—no pressure. **


	7. Chapter 7

The rest of McGonagall's class and the whole of their lunch period had taken Merlin's mind off of Morgana's disturbing glimpses into his future. Now, he was thoroughly excited to be going to his first Care of Magical Creatures class, as well as Hagrid's first Care of Magical Creatures class.

"Stop struggling" Merlin grumbled to his _Monster Book of Monsters_ as it tried to rip open the belt that Merlin was using to secure it. Arthur had his tied his down with a piece of rope and Gwaine had his wrapped in Spellotape.

"It's a crazy, monstrous book, it's not going to listen to you" Gwaine observed as his wriggled around in his arms.

"Maybe it just needs a bit of training" Merlin shrugged trying to run his hand behind its eyes though this seemed to make it angrier "C'mon, I need you for class!"

Arthur rolled his eyes and snatched the book out of Merlin's hand "You're going to annoy it until it takes off one of your hands"

"D'you think they get hungry, what if they starve?" Merlin asked reaching for his book but Arthur kept it away from him.

"Give it a rest, Merlin" he said then whirled around as the book was snatched from his own hands and he protested loudly "Morgana!"

"Here, Merlin" she said handing it back to the dark haired boy "Really, Arthur, I can't leave you by yourself for five minutes before you start picking on him, and you" she rounded on Gwaine, pointing her own buckled down copy of the monster book in his face "why weren't you standing up for him?"

"He's stronger than you think, ya know?" Gwaine smiled at her in a way that made her even more annoyed with him.

"It's cool Morgana, if I really wanted it, I would have gotten it" Merlin said putting himself between his siblings and Gwaine. She looked at him a moment before nodding her head in satisfaction. She was about to say something else when Malfoy interrupted her.

"Hey Morgana, why are you hanging out with these losers?" he asked sneering in their direction, Crabbe and Goyle laughing with him.

Morgana's eyes hardened a little and Merlin felt sure she was about to insult the blonde headed boy, but he knew she would regret it later, so he intervened "She was asking us to save her from you Slytherin cabbage-heads"

"Hey!" Morgana protested looking at her brother confused as Malfoy—shadowed by his two body guards—took a menacing step forward.

"What did you say about the Slytherin House?"

Arthur and Gwaine closed in around Merlin, silently telling the three boys that if they picked on him, they would have to deal with them. Morgana now stood between both groups of boys, her eyes showing she was still confused and slightly hurt by the comment Merlin had made. He was careful not to make eye contact with her, it would ruin his plan.

"Just the truth" he replied to Malfoy's question. The blonde made to lunge at Merlin but Morgana put a restraining hand on his shoulder that instantly had him calming down.

The sibling's eyes met then as she spoke to the three boys behind her "Let's go, it's not worth it… they're just Gryffindor's".

The boys laughed appreciatively and the four Slytherins walked off toward Hagrid's hut where the classes were being held.

"Why'd you do that?" Arthur asked rounding on Merlin, Gwaine also giving him a questioning look "She thought you were insulting her too"

Merlin looked at his shoes, ashamed he had hurt his sister "Yeah, but she was about to say something stupid to Malfoy. You've seen how close she and his sister are, I didn't want her to make a big mistake, so I made one instead… at least it wasn't her…."

"You're an idiot Merlin" Gwaine said affectionately "but a loyal one, c'mon, I'm sure she'll be over it by the end of class" he said and started leading them down to the small hut that belonged to their new professor.

Hagrid was waiting excitedly for everyone to arrive at the door of his hut, a bright grin peeking out from under his great beard and Merlin could not keep himself from smiling at the sight. "C'mon, no get a move on!" Hagrid called as the class moved toward him slowly "Got a real treat for yeh today! Great lesson comin' up! Everyone here? Right, follow me!"

They followed the large man around the small hut, along the line of trees that made up the forbidden forest, to the outside of a paddock. As far as Merlin could see, the paddock was completely empty.

"Everyone gather 'round the fence here!" Hagrid called to them "That's it—make sure yeh can see—now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books—"

"How?" Draco Malfoy asked, drawing out the word arrogantly.

"Eh?" Hagrid asked looking around at the gathered students. Merlin clutched his tied up book against his side ashamed at not having figured out how to open it.

"How do we open our books?" Malfoy explained, arms crossed over his chest. He lifted his own copy of the textbook which was bound with a length of rope.

"Hasn'—hasn' anyone bin able ter open their books?" he asked looking crestfallen making Merlin feel even more guilty.

Everyone shook their heads and Hagrid took her Hermione's book from her hands "Yeh've got ter _stroke_ 'em. Look—" he took the Spellotape off of the book and ran one of his large fingers down the spine. The book shivered, and then fell open and lay quietly in his hands.

"Oh, how silly we've all been!" Malfoy sneered. "We should have _stroked _them! Why didn't we guess!" Merlin watched Morgana's face scrunch up into a frown—maybe it was not just Malfoy mouthing off to her brothers that was getting to her.

"I—I thought they were funny" Hagrid said uncertainly to Hermione.

"Oh, tremendously funny!" said Malfoy loudly. "Really witty, giving us books that try and rip our hands off!"

"Shut up, Malfoy" Merlin heard Harry say quietly as he noticed Hagrid's mood lowering.

Merlin added louder "See, I told you Arthur. All they needed was a gentle touch, but, oh no, they looked too much like spiders!"

Almost everyone laughed, including Gwaine, except for Arthur, who was looking murderous, Morgana and Malfoy who were giving him strange looks.

Hagrid gave Hermione's book a cursory glance before smiling lightly as understanding why the students were having trouble taking to the book—he knew spiders were an acquired taste, not everyone knew a spider like Aargog after all.

"Righ' then" Hagrid said slowly regaining his enthusiasm "Now that yeh know how ter open yer books, it's abou' time fer yeh to see some Magical Creatures. Hang on…."

He walked off into the forest and out of sight. Arthur took the chance to slap the back of Merlin's head eliciting a few chuckles from the rest of the class, and an appreciative smile from Hermione. Merlin noticed that Ron had placed his book down and was standing a few feet from it— Merlin was thinking that maybe he should not have said they looked like spiders in front of the red-headed boy.

"Oooooooh!" he heard one of the girls squeal as Hagrid came back into view, along with him a dozen beautiful, feathered creatures. They had the bodies, hind legs, and tails of horses but the front legs, wings and heads of giant eagles. Each had a violent, steel-colored beak with large, brilliant orange eyes. The talons on their front legs were at least a half a foot long, and very dangerous.

"Are those griffins?" Merlin asked uneasily as he moved unconsciously in front of Arthur who gave him a weird look.

"Hippogriffs actually, a bit of distant cousin, you don't see a lot er griffins abou' now… they're a lot harder to tame, far more tempermen'al" Hagrid said running a hand down the back of a chestnut collored hippogriff that was closest to him. Each of the beasts had a thick chain around its neck, the other end held in Hagrid's hand.

Once he was sure the creature was not a griffon, not that Merlin had any reason to be weary of those, never having met one before, he could see why Hagird was smiling so brightly. They were very attractive animals, their eyes gleaming in the sunlight, their feathers gently fading into hair.

"So," Hagrid said looking around at the students "if yeh wan' ter come a bit nearer—"

No one seemed to want to, but finally Merlin, Arthur, Gwaine, Morgana, Harry, Hermione and Ron all moved up to the fence. Hagrid nodded approvingly "Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' hippogriffs is, they're proud."

"A bit like Arthur then?" Gwaine joked.

Hagird continued on with his lecture ignoring Gwaine's jib "Easily offended, hippogriffs are. Don't never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do."

Morgana looked over her shoulder and hissed a shushing at someone, Merlin did not care enough to look back to see who.

"Yeh always wait fer the hippogriff ter make the firs' move. It's polite, see? Yeh walk toward him, and yeh bow, an' yeh wait. If he bows back, yeh're allowed ter touch him. If he doesn' bow, then get away from him sharpish, 'cause those talons hurt.

"Right—who wants ter go first?"

The rest of the class took a step back leaving the seven students near the paddock looking at each other to see who would be going first. Merlin grabbed Arthur's arm and shoved it down next to his side when he saw the boy was about to raise his hand. Arthur glared but he did pull his arm away. Gwaine looked ready to do the same thing but Harry beat him to it "I'll do it".

There was intake of breath behind them as Laveder and Parvati whispered "Oooh, no, Harry, remember your tea leaves!"

Morgana snorted "Go on Potter, I'm sure you can manage to pet it without falling over dead"

"It'd be the talons I would be worrying about" Gwaine said cheerfully "unless it's poisoned, there isn't much reason in fearing tea leaves"

Harry nodded his thanks and climbed over the paddock fence. "Good man, Harry!" Hagrid said enthusiastically. "Right then—let's see how yeh get on with Buckbeak"

He tied the large chain to the fence, taking one away that was connected to the collar of a grey hippogriff, and lead it away from the others.

"Easy now, Harry," Hagrid said quietly "Yeh've got eye contact, now try not ter blink… Hippogriffs don' trust yeh if yeh blink too much…"

Harry gave a stiff nod at Hagrid's words and started slowly walking towards the hippogriff with Hagrid commenting the whole time "Tha's it. Tha's it, Harry… now, bow…"

Buckbeak stared at the bowing boy but made no move to repeat his action. "Ah" Hagrid said worriedly "Right—back away, now, Harry, easy does it—"

A few steps back, and the hippogriff dipped its large head, bending onto is scaly front knees into a bow, keeping its eyes locked with Harry's.

"Well done, Harry!" said Hagrid happily "Right—yeh can touch him! Pat his beak, go on!"

Harry hesitated, but finally the boy moved forward and placed one of his hands on its smooth beak, its eyes closing lazily as if it enjoyed the attention. The class broke into applause, all except for the three Slytherin boys.

"Righ' then Harry," Hagrid said jovially " I reckon he might' let yeh ride him!" Merlin saw Harry's eyes get wide in apprehension and he was happy he had stopped Arthur before he could volunteer.

"Yeh climbe up there, jus' behind the wing joint, an' mind yeh don' pull any of his feathers out, he won' like that…" Buckbeak snorted and threw his head down in what looked like a nod to that statement.

Hagrid helped him onto the back of the hippogriff, and with hardly any warning, the creature was taking off, Harry hanging onto its back. Buckbeak did a circuit around the paddock before decending back to the ground, Harry still hanging on to its back.

"Good work, Harry!" Hagrid roared helping him down from his mount "Okay, who else wants a go?" The whole class was now climbing over the paddock fence and Hagrid was smiling brightly as he untied the other hippogriffs.

Merlin, Arthur, Gwaine and Morgana all took a step before bowing to deep black hippogriff. It did not take long for the easy mannered creature to bend down to its scaly knees and let them gather to pat his beak and rub his back. The hippogriff closed its eyes and clicked its beak in an approving way, curling into Morgana's hand that was caressing its head.

None of them were paying much attention to the other students until they heard Malfoy screaming "I'm dying! I'm dying, look at me! It's killed me!"

Malfoy was rolling on the ground under Buckbeak, blood was blossoming from the arm he was clutching to his chest, the beast looked disinterested and went willingly as Hagrid chained him back up.

"Yeh're not dyin'" said Hagrid "Someone help me—gotta get him outta here—"

Hermione held the gate of the paddock open as Hagrid carried Malfoy toward the hospital wing, the whole class following him toward the castle.

Merlin had wanted to go with the others to visit Hagrid the night before, he was sure that the man was having a hard time, fired or not. The three were not out long though, Hagrid walking them back up to the castle soon after they had arrived at his hut, Harry rolling his eyes and the other two with red faces.

It was not a secret around the school that it was a good possibility that Sirius Black had escaped to kill enemies of his master—Harry—and he could understand why Hagrid felt the need to bring the boy back to the castle. If Sirius Black was anything like Nimueh, Merlin would be scared to leave his room if he was Harry.

Malfoy, when he came back to class, made a big show of how much Buckbeak's attack was hurting him, going on about how painful it was and how stupid Hagrid was for showing third-years such a dangerous beast. Morgana was slowly moving farther and farther away from the Slytherin boy every time Merlin saw them together, and he was unsure of how he felt about that.

They were in double potions with Snape, intending to make a shrinking potion. Malfoy, playing it up, had gotten Snape to make Harry and Ron help with cutting and skinning his ingredients. The boy had a smug look on his face as he whispered to the other two, their faces reddening in anger at whatever he was saying.

"Orange, Longbottom," Snape yelled standing over Neville's cauldron "Orange. Tell me, boy, does anything penetrate that thick skull of yours? Didn't you hear me say, quite clearly, that only one rat spleen was needed? Didn't I state plainly that a dash of leech juice would suffice? What do I have to do to make you understand, Longbottom?"

Neville was trembling and his eyes looked wet. "Please sir," Hermione said from next to Neville "please, I could help Neville put it right—"

"I don't remember asking you to show off, Miss Granger," Snape said coldly and Merlin scowled at the man "Longbottom, at the end of this lesson we will feed a few drops of this potion to your toad and see what happens. Perhaps that will encourage you to do it properly."

Snape left the boy hyperventilating, Hermione trying to comfort him. He wanted to go up to the teacher and tell him off for being such an overgrown prat, but something caught his attention before he could pluck up the resolve to say such a thing to a teacher.

"Hey, Harry" Seamus Finnagin who was sitting next to Harry and Ron right in front of Merlin and Arthur "have you heard? _Daily Prophet_ this morning—they reckon Sirius Black's been sighted."

"Where?" Ron and Harry said quickly as Arthur gave Merlin a pointed look.

"Not too far from here. It was a muggle who saw him. 'Course, she didn't really understand. The Muggles think he's just an ordinary criminal, don't they? So she phoned the telephone hot line. By the time the Ministry of Magic got there, he was gone"

Harry and Ron were whispering to each other when Merlin questioned Seamus "Did it say anything about Nimueh Gibbons?"

Seamus shook his head "Nothing deffinate, the lady only saw Black, but it's supposed that she can't be far off."

Merlin was panicking, though not to where just anyone could tell, but he could see the concerned looks of Arthur, Morgana, and Gwaine. They knew what that woman had done to him, and they knew he would react like this. Arthur was just putting a calming hand on Merlin's arm when Snape started talking.

"You should have finished adding your ingredients by now; this potion needs to stew before it can be drunk, so clear away while it simmers and then we'll test Longbottom's..."

It was too much, the Potion's Professor was threatening to poison Neville's toad, and it was hit too close to home for Merlin. He stood from where he was sitting, and walked up to where the cauldron was sitting on the edge of the desk, easy for Snape to ladle out a spoon-full.

Merlin made no attempt to hide what he was doing, instead he bodily hit the side of the desk with his side, the table shifted under his weight and the cauldron fell, spilling the green liquid all over the ground. Snape and the students rushed to get out of the way of the steaming potion as it spread out on the stone floor.

"Pendragon!" Snape yelled "What was that?!" his face was red with rage and he looked ready to kill Merlin. All of the students took a step back from the enraged teacher.

"Fifteen points from Gryffindor and detention, tonight, my office!" Merlin nodded to show he had heard and the Snape shoved the toad into Neville's hands. With a wave of his wand, the potion disappeared and he stalked out of the room, heading toward his office.

The Potions master was livid, but Merlin could see the clear relief on Neville's face as he took Trevor back from the dark man, running a comforting hand along the toads back. He gave a small nod toward Merlin who gave one back.

.

.

.

** Did anyone else feel bad for Trevor in that chapter? I really wanted to curse Snape when he did that, so I decided to make Merlin save the toad even though Hermione had already fixed the potion so that it wasn't dangerous. Sorry it took so long for me to update, I'll try to get back to my quick updating, please be patient, and as always "may the odds be ever in your favor". No, really I meant please review, that just sort of popped into my head. **


	8. Chapter 8

When they arrived at Defense Against the Dark Arts, Lupin was nowhere to be found, so they all started retrieving their textbooks and quills from their bags.

He came in a moment later, his skin having more color than it did at the feast, though his clothes still looked shabby and his hair hang lankly in his eyes.

"Good afternoon," he said. "Would you please put all your books back in your bags. Today's will be a practical lesson. You will need only your wands."

Everyone's faces showed a weariness that told Merlin that they, too, remembered the last practical lesson they had had in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Gilderoy Lockhart had seen fit to let loose a cage full of Cornish Pixies that had run rampant through the classroom and he had ran away leaving it to Merlin and a few others to put them back.

"Right then," he said when they had all gotten out their wands "If you'd follow me."

He led them down a deserted corridor, wehre the first thing they met was Hogwart's annoying poltergeist, Peeves, who was floating upside down stuffing keyholes with chewing gum.

Peeves looked up when Lupin was only two feet from him and broke into song "Loony, loopy Lupin, loony, loopy Lupin—"

Lupin smiled pleasantly at Peeves and said calmly "I'd take that gum out of the keyhole if I were you, Peeves. Mr. Filch won't be able to get in to his brooms."

Peeves rolled his eyes and blew a raspberry in the Professor's face.

Lupin sighed and took out his wand and told the class over his shoulder "This is a usefull littly spell. Please watch closely"

He raised his wand to point at the poltergeist and said "_Waddiwasi!"_

With the force of a bullet, the wad of chewing gum shot out of the key hole and right up Peeves nostril; he sped away in the air, cursing as he went. The students, all impressed, applauded the Professor and he led them on to their destination. Merlin was impressed, while Peeves gave most of the teachers more respect than he did others, it was not common to see someone send Peeves away like that other than the Bloody Baron.

He continued to lead them to a staffroom where he had them file into long room. Professor Sanpe was sitting in one of the many, shabby armchairs filling the room, he looked up with a sneer as the class filed in. Lupin was about to shut the door when Snape stood up "Leave it open, Lupin. I would rather not witness this."

He strode past the class with his normal arrogance in tow, his black robes billowing out around him. At the doorway, he looked back at the Professor "Possibly non one's warned you, Lupin, but this class contains Neville Longbottom. I would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult. Not unless Miss Granger is hissing instructions in his ear or Mr. Pendragon is waiting to cover for him."

Gwaine put a hand on Merlin's shoulder, his face already turning red with rage to hear the man talk bad about the boy outside of his class, let alone to another Professor right in front of him and his peers.

Professor Lupin raised one of his eyebrows.

"I was hoping that Neville would assist me with the first stage of the operation" he said "and I am sure he will perform it admirably."

Snape's lip curled up, but he did not say anything more to Lupin, instead he turned to Merlin, "Don't forget, detention after dinner"

Merlin nodded his head, not trusting himself to say anything aloud to the man at the moment and he watched as the teacher left the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

"Now, then," Lupin said getting the student's attention back, he motioned for them to follow him to the end of the room in front of an old wardrobe. Professor Lupin moved to stand next to wardrobe and it gave a violent wobble that had the class taking an uneasy step back.

"Nothing to worry about" Lupin said calmly, a thin smile playing at his lips "There's a boggart in there."

A few people gave the wardrobe an even more worried look, though Professor Lupin ignored it for the most part.

"Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces," Lupin began putting a hand on the top of the wardrobe "Wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the cupboards under sinks—I've even met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock. _This_ one moved in yesterday afternoon, and I asked the headmaster if the staff would leave it to give my third years some practice.

"So, the first question we must ask ourselves is, what _is_ a boggart?"

Hermione's hand was up in the air before Lupin had finished his question.

"It's a shape-shifter," she said in her textbook voice "It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most."

"Couldn't have put it better myself" Lupin praised and Hermione glowed. "So the bogart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. He does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us most fears.

"This means that we have a huge advantage over the boggart before we begin. Have you spotted it, Harry?"

"Er—because there are so many of us, it won't know what shape it should be?" Harry asked uncertainly.

"Precisely" Lupin nodded his head and Hermione lowered her hand somewhat disappointedly. "It's always best to have company when you're dealing with a boggart. He becomes confused. Which should he become, a headless corpse or a flesh-eating slug? I once saw a boggart make that very mistake—tried to frighten two people at once and turned himself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening.

"The charm that repels a boggart is simple, yet it requires force of mind. You see, the thing that really finishes a boggart is _laughter_. What you need to do is force it to assume a shape that you find amusing.

"We will practice the charm without wands first. After me, please…_ riddikulus!_"

"_Riddikulus!_" the class said together.

"Good" Professor Lupin said happily "Very good. But that was the easy part, I'm afraid. You see, the word alone is not enough. And this is where you come in, Neville."

Neville walked forward, his face turning a sickly green. "Right, Neville" said Lupin "Frist things first: what would you say is the thing that frightens you most in the world?"

Neville moved his lips but not sound came out.

"Didn't catch that, Neville, sorry" Lupin said cheerfully.

"Professor Snape" he said in a wavering voice barely louder than a whisper.

Nearly everyone laughed, but Merlin felt bad for the boy, the man had just threatened to poison his toad only a few hours ago. Neville grinned apologetically but Professor Lupin looked thoughtful.

"Professor Snape…hmmm…Neville, I believe you live with your grandmother?"

"Er—yes," the boy replied nervously "But—I don't want the boggart to turn into her either."

"No, no, you misunderstand me," Lupin said smiling "I wonder, could you tell us what sort of clothes your grandmother wears?"

Neville looked startled, but he answered "Well… always the same hat. A tall one with a stuffed vulture on top. And a long dress… green, normally… and sometimes a fox-fur scarf."

"And a handbag?" prompted {professor Lupin.

"A big red one," Neville replied.

"Right then, can you picture those clothes very clearly, Neville? Can you see them in your mind's eye?" Lupin asked.

"Yes" Neville said uncertainly.

"When the boggart bursts out of this wardrobe, Neville, and sees you, it will assume the form of Professor Snape," Lupin explained. "And you will raise your wand—thus—and cry '_Riddickulus_'—and concentrate hard on your grandmother's clothes. If all goes well, Professor boggart Snape will be forced into that vulture-topped hat, and that green dress, with that big red handbag."

Everyone laughed, already imagining the image, and the wardrobe gave a violent shudder.

"If Neville is successful, the boggart is likely to shift his attention to each of us in turn," Lupin said. "I would like all of you to take a moment now to think of the thing that scares you most, and imagine how you might force it to look comical…"

_Something that scares us…._ Merlin thought to himself. What did scare him? An image came into his mind then, a woman, with night dark hair and ice cold, blue eyes, and a scheming, blood-red smile, a cup held out toward him in her hand…..

Nimueh was definitely frightening, but probably not so much if she looked like a clown….

"Everyone ready?" Lupin asked. Everyone nodded and Lupin went on "Nevilled, we're going to back away, let you have a clear field, all right? I'll call the next person forward…Everyone back, now , so Neville can get a clear shot—"

They all took a step back, leaving Neville alone, in front of the wardrobe.

"On the count of three, Neville" Lupin said his wand at the handle of the wardrobe. "One—two—three—_now!_"

A jet of sparks shot from the end of Professor Lupin's wand and hit the doorknob. The wardrobe burst open. Hook-nosed and menacing, ProfessorSnape stepped out, his eyes flashing at Neville.

Neville backed away, his wand up, mouthing wordlessly. Snape was bearding down upon him, reaching inside his robes.

"_R—r—riddikulus!_" Neville squeaked.

A noise like a whip crack echoed through the room and the fake Snape stumbled. He was now wearing a long, lace- trimmed dress and a towering hat topped with a moth-eaten vulture, and he was swinging a huge crimson handbag.

The whole class erupted into fits of laughter and Professor Lupin waved Neville back and shouted, "Parvati! Forward!"

The whip cracked again as Snape rounded on her, except he was now a slow moving, linen wrapped and bloodstained mummy.

"_Riddikulus!_" she cried.

A bandage unraveled at the mummy's feet; it became entangled, fell face forward, and its head rolled off.

"Seamus!" Lupin called and the boy walked up, with another whip crack, the mummy turned into a woman with floor length black hair and a skeletal, green face—a banshee. She opened her mouth and let out an ear piercing wail that had Merlin covering his ears.

_"Riddikulus!_" Seamus yelled, and the banshee clutched at her throat, a soft rasping noise coming from her mouth—her voice was gone.

_Crack!_ The banshee turned into a rat, which chased its tail in a circle, then—_Crack!_—became a rattlesnake, which slithered and writhed before—_Crack!—_becoming a single bloody eyeball.

"It's confused! We're getting there! Merlin!" Lupin called out.

Merlin steeped toward the boggart, an image of the witch who had poisoned him held firmly in his mind with all her hair fallen out, and her makeup running down her face. When the whip cracked and the boggart changed its form however, it was not the witch that he found standing in front of him.

His father—stepfather—stood in front of him, imposing as ever, and maybe even more so now. The man he knew was always impeccably dressed, suits and ties most of the time, he always looked important, but Merlin had never seen the man wear a crown, and yet it looked so natural on his greying hair.

A gold chain hung from his neck, large, expensive rings adorned his hands, and he was dressed like someone right out of the Middle Ages, sword at his hip and even a torch in his hand. The torch was held out in front of the man accusingly, his eyes narrowed straight at Merlin, and thought the boggart never made a sound, Merlin could hear the accusation in those buring eyes _Sorcerer!_

He took a fearfull step back, and he saw the boggart smirk, it was winning, at least until Lupin spoke "C'mon Merlin, you can do this"

Merlin shot a glance over at the haggard teacher, a small smile on the man's lips, he really believed Merlin could do this. With a resolved nod, Merlin lifted his wand and incanted _"Riddikulus!"_

The torch turned into a bouquet of flowers with a load of bees buzzing around them, King Uther began swatting at them and they in turn stung at his skin until Arthur stepped in front of Merlin. Merlin was unsure if the boy had stepped forward because he was eager for a turn, or to stop the humiliation his father was going through-fake or not.

With another whip crack, Uther shifted form into a large hairy spider. With not even a trace of fear, though there was a small underline of anger to be detected, Arthur raised his wand "_Riddikulus!_"

The spider swelled into a balloon and floated off of the ground, Arthur did not wait for the next person to come up before he started pulling Merlin to the back of the class room.

"What was that, you made _our_ dad look like a complete fool! Why was he even your biggest fear, he's our _dad!_" Arthur hissed, trying not to draw attention to their fight.

Merlin knew how loyal Arthur was to his father, and he knew that Merlin had hurt him by insinuating that Uther could be a person for them to fear, so he gave a half truth "I don't know why he appeared like that Arthur! I was sure it was going to be Nimueh"

Arthur's eyes softened "I was pretty sure that was who it was going to be too"

"Arthur, did you see how he was dressed, it was probably just because the boggart was confused that Uther showed up. It was supposed to be Nimueh, I was thinking of her just like Lupin instructed, that's why I stepped back, I wasn't expecting our dad to pop up—especially not wearing a crown."

Arthur nodded his head acceptingly "Sorry Merlin, you're right, it was just confused"

Merlin sighed in relief as they walked back to join Gwaine and the rest of the class. The boggart was turning to face Harry who had his wand raised in anticipation, but Lupin called out before the creature could change into Harry's fear.

"Here!" he called and the boggart turned and cracked, exploding into a silvery white orb, dark wisps of clouds hanging at the base. "_Riddikulus!_"

_Crack!_

"Neville, forward and finish him off!" Lupin called. The boy stepped forward determinedly, his wand already raised. Snape, appeared and Neville cast the spell, the class received one last glimpse of Snape in his lace dress before the boggart exploded.

"Excellent" Lupin cried "Excellent, Neville. Well done, everyone…. Let me see… five points to Gryffindor for every person to tackle the boggart—ten for Neville because he did it twice… and five each to Hermione and Harry"

"But I didn't do anything" Harry argued with a frown on his face.

"You and Hermione answered my questions correctly at the start of the class, Harry," Lupin said lightly. "Very well, everyone, an excellent lesson. Homework, kindly read the chapter on boggarts and summarize it for me… to be handed in on Monday. That will be all."

With that the class left the staffroom. Everyone was joking and laughing about the boggart, most of them appreciating Lupin on being the best DADA teacher they have had, with which Merlin could not help but agree.

One comment did stand out to him however, Lavender Brown pondered aloud "I wonder why Professor Lupin's frightened of crystal balls?"

Merlin looked down at his feet as he walked along the corridors with the others "I thought it looked a bit like a moon…."

**Hey everyone, I feel bad about how long it has taken me to update, I know you're used to quicker updates. I'm not going to give any excuses, I'm just going to say that I'll try and pick my pace back up. Please keep reading, and if you want, drop a review. **


	9. Chapter 9

After dinner that night, Merlin walked down to the dungeons to find Snape waiting on him, an annoying smirk plastered onto his face. He had his hand resting on an old wooden bucket, a scrubbing brush lying next to it, and a towel hanging over the rim.

"Well, Mr. Pendragon, I'm glad to see you can arrive on time to your own punishment"

Merlin dropped his things into the seat across from Snape's desk and asked with a sigh "I'm guessing you're going to have me clean something without magic?"

Snape did not lose any of his obvious satisfaction at the boy's despondent tone, instead he nodded his head "I was doing an inventory of my personal stock of potions the other day, and I noticed the school cauldrons—all fifteen of them—have not been cleaned properly since before I graduated as a student from this school"

Merlin's face paled; there were horrible rumors that floated through the school about those cauldrons. The Potion's master was supposed to keep a small supply of cauldrons that students could borrow while they waited on replacements for their own if ever their previous ones were destroyed or started leaking. No one really paid enough attention to these cauldrons, forgetting to clean them out once they received their new ones leaving layers and layers of remains of potions and regents sticking to the insides, caked on through heat and time, often destroying any hopes of good marks for the unfortunate student who was forced to use one for his or her potion.

"You must be kidding!"

"No, I think it is a fitting punishment. You destroyed Neville's potion so you will make up for it by keeping future student's potions from being destroyed by using these cauldrons. As you guessed, you will not be allowed to use magic, with a wand or otherwise, and to make sure you do not cheat, I will be super vising you the whole time"

Merlin scowled at the Potion's Master who smiled back tauntingly and showed Merlin to where the spare cauldrons were kept.

It took him a total of five hours to remove all of the grime that had been baked to the insides of the cauldrons, a great deal of elbow grease, and more patience than he ever thought he could muster. Finally though, he had the last of the fifteen cauldrons sparkling clean and put back into their spots in the storage closet.

"May I go now, Professor?" Merlin asked, panting slightly as he held his aching right arm to his chest.

Snape looked up from the _Daily Prophet_ he had laid out on his desk. He looked a little startled to find that the boy was still there, but he managed to pull himself back together.

"Do you think you've learned your lesson?" he asked gruffly.

Merlin nodded his head "Never attempt to save an innocent frog in your classroom again"

"No, do not try and cover for other's mistakes or you will get into more trouble than they would have" Snape said slightly annoyed.

"Are you suggesting I leave my friends out to dry when I know I can help them?" Merlin asked, his voice rising in anger.

"No," Snape said standing up, his hands lying flat on his desk in front of him as he stood across from Merlin "I mean think about how the consequences of your 'helping' will affect you afterwards".

Merlin narrowed his eyes, slightly confused about the advice the older man was trying to give him "I don't understand"

"You could have done something far less obvious than knock into the table in front of everyone with the result being that you helped your friend. Take Miss Granger for instance, I could tell from the color that she had already helped the boy fix the potion so that it would have been harmless to the toad. I still would have docked a few points, but she would not have had to clean all of those cauldorns"

"I wasn't really thinking about myself at the time" Merlin admitted, seeing where the Professor was going with his lecture.

"No, you were thinking of a toad, a toad that had no importance to you whatsoever. That was another reason I wanted to teach you this lesson, Merlin. Pick battles that matter to you, so that when you do have to pay consequences, you will know that they are worth your effort"

"It reminded me of something….." Merlin said quietly, looking down at the ground.

Snape quirked one of his eyebrows higher than the other "What do you mean?"

"The way you were about to poison the frog like it was something insignificant, even though it had a master that loved it, that it would have hurt Neville so much if his toad had been hurt. Do you know what that would have done to him? You're already his biggest fear, how do you think he would have seen you if you had killed his frog?"

"As a good teacher, he would understand that he has to pay attention to small details or the results could be _fatal_!" Snape argued, his face going pink "I don't care what they think of me, it doesn't matter"

"If it doesn't matter, then why are you trying to teach me?" Merlin questioned. Snape's mouth hung open a moment as though he was at a loss of words, and Merlin went on "I was poisoned this summer, by some random witch who just happened to walk by me and my brother as we were sitting together in the park. She came up to us and offered us a free drink, I thought it was weird, but I drank it anyway, and I almost died. Can you really blame me for overreacting when I saw you about to poison a living creature, and when I saw that you didn't care what happened because of that?"

Snape slowly sat back down in his chair, his hair falling down in front of his dark eyes, hiding his expression from Merlin "Who was she… the witch?"

"Nimueh Gibbons, one of the escapees from Azkaban" Merlin replied. Snape's head bowed and one of his hands clutched at the newspaper in front of him. The boy looked down to see a picture of Nimueh screaming and cursing on the front page.

"You're dismissed Merlin" Snape said. Merlin nodded and took up his things. As he was walking out of the office, he thought he heard the Professor saying quietly "My past continues to haunt me"

Defense Against the Dark Arts was quickly becoming everyone's favorite calss. Only the Malfoy siblings had anything bad to say about him, they're closet friends agreeing with them. Merlin could tell Morgana was only nodding along with what they said so as not to cause a confrontation with the rest of her house, but it was obvious to him that she was annoyed by their criticism of the teacher.

His lessons continued to be just as interesting as the first had been. After boggarts, they studied Red Caps, nasty little goblinlike creatures that lurked wherever there had been bloodshed. From Red Caps they moved to kappas, water-dwellers that looked like scaly monkeys, with webbed hands that were used to strangle swimmers.

Snape's attitude had gotten worse since Merlin's detention, though the boy noticed it was hardly ever aimed at him. Neville and Harry usually took the brunt of his annoyance, while Merlin seemed to find Snape's eyes trailing him when he started to leave anywhere by himself, almost as if he were worried about the young boy.

Professor Trelawney's class was turning out to be a wonderful idea. The sleepy atmosphere and the comfortable seating coupled with having all of his friends in one place and the entertainment Morgana's hate for the batty Professor provided was a nice getaway from his other classes. Keeping his grades up in Divinations was hardly difficult; all he had to do was make up some random prophecies—usually with help from the others. Morgana on the other hand, continued to try and use her gift for real prophecies, and each time she actually saw something that would happen, Professor Trelawney would wave it off as a made up prediction.

"That dumb woman has no idea what true divination looks like!" Morgana fumed as the descended from the North Tower.

"Calm down Morgana" Arthur laughed "just make something up like us, she'll love it"

"What?" she asked sarcastically as she snatched a piece of parchment from Gwaine's hands. She looked over his homework, which was to predict the next week for his partner who happened to be Percy.

"That I'll end up drowning in my morning pumpkin juice?" she asked incredulously looking up at Gwaine over his paper.

"I wouldn't put it past Percy here, as tired as he is in the mornings, it's all he can do to keep from using his breakfast plate as a pillow" Elyan laughed, the others joining in.

Morgana gave an annoyed huff and walked away from the rest of the group as they continued laughing.

Care of Magical Creatures had become one of the more boring classes, a close second to History of Magic. Hagrid seemed to have lost his confidence after their first lesson and was now having the class take care of a colony of flobberworms.

October however brought something that the friends had been looking forward to since they had left Hogwarts the year before—Quidditch. Arthur was eager to get back on the field, but they had a small problem, their sponsor was no longer at Hogwarts.

"Who should we ask?" Arthur mumbled past his hand which he was leaning his head on as he watched Gwaine and Merlin play Wizard's Chess.

"You're the captain" Gwaine observed.

"Yes, but if you don't help me come up with a sponsor, then you won't be playing either" Arthur retorted angrily.

"There are plenty of teachers at this school, just go around asking them" Merlin advised as he moved one of his pawns forward.

"Oh yes, because I'm sure Professor Binns and Professor Trelawney would just jump at the chance to sponsor us" Arthur rolled his eyes.

"I would wait until you got an answer from one before you ask the other" Gwaine commented, "don't want them dueling over who gets to be our sponsor"

Merlin chuckled, and then groaned as Gwaine took one of his knights "Fine, don't just ask anyone, but do ask someone. We have the astrology Professor, the Ancient Runes Professor, the Muggles Studdies Professor, the Care of Magical Creatures Professor…."

The three boy's eyes lifted to meet each other's as their faces lit up with excitement and they all chorused "Hagird!"

"Yer want me ter be yer sponsor?" Hagrid asked quizzically as he looked down at them. As soon as the idea had struck their minds, the boys—after Gwaine had beat Merlin at chess—ran down to the small hut that belonged to the giant.

"Of course, Hagrid, you would be a wonderful sponser; and just think if we win, you'll have something over the other teachers!" Gwaine said happily.

"Even af'er wha' happ'ned with Malfoy?" Hagird asked forlornly, looking down at his large feet.

"What happened with Malfoy was not your fault Hagrid" Merlin said vehemently.

"And besides, Quidditch has nothing to do with hippogriffs" Arthur shrugged his shoulders, "So what do you say? If you don't agree then it's unlikely we'll even be able to plat this year"

Hagird looked back and forth between the three boys as a big smile spread across his hairy face "I'll do it, then"

The boys all wrapped their arms around his large frame, hugging him tightly in their elation. When they pulled back, another question pushed its way into Merlin's mind "Hagrid, where are you keeping Fluffy now?"

"Fluffy, I've been keepin' 'em out in the fores'. He seems much happier ou' there, an' I can't bare to chain the great boy up, no' after keepin' 'em locked up in that chamber fer a whole year" He said rubbing a hand through his bushy beard.

"Can I go and see him?" Merlin asked excitedly.

Hagrid quickly shook his head "Are yeh mad, the dementors are still ou' there searchin' fer Black, not to mention if he er Nimueh got a hold of yeh. Promise me yeh won't be steppin' a foot inter that fores' if there ain't a teacher guiding yeh until this Black thing blows over"

Merlin shuddered at the mention of Nimueh, which everyone noticed but no one called him out on "I promise, Hagrid"

Hagrid nodded his head "Good, now it's startin' ter get late, you three ought ter be gettin' back up ter the castle"

When the three boys made it back to the common room, there was a large group of students gathered around the notice board.

"What's going on?" Gwaine questioned as a few fifth years pushed by him to look at the board.

"The first Hogesmade weekend" Ginny Weasley replied as she shoved her way out of the crowd, her flaming red hair messed up from the mob of Gryffindors.

"When is it?" Arhtur asked happily.

"Halloween" she replied, slightly sulky "I can't go though, only third years and above"

"Just one more year" Merlin comforted her and she gave him a small smile before walking off.

Gwaine's eyes lit up excitedly as he started talking about the trip "This is great, Fred and George have been telling me all about this awesome joke shop, called Zonko's, I can't wait to see what they've got…"

Merlin stopped listening about the fourth time through hearing about the joke shop, he knew Gwaine was excited, but he still had a few weeks before he would get to see the store. Merlin nodded absently as though he were listening to his friend while he successfully led both boys up to the dormitory without them realizing it.

**Sorry Fluffy fans, but I couldn't come up with a good reason for Fluffy to be in this part of the book—not implying that he will make an appearance, I haven't decided. If you really want him to play an important part in later chapters, then tell me, if you just want a small appearance and don't mind if he doesn't have a big part then just keep reading—feel free to review anyway though. **


	10. Chapter 10

As Merlin predicted, Gwaine hardly took a breath to rest about all of the things he was looking forward to buying from Zonko's joke shop. The only distraction came when Lavender Brown was found crying one day over the loss of her pet rabbit.

"It would be!" Morgana raged "It would be the sixteenth of October. That woman has no talent for seeing the future, and yet THIS!"

"Calm down Morgana, we get it" Arthur smirked "you don't like the fact that someone else can see the future"

Morgana hexed Arthur and walked away, refusing to tell him the counter curse.

Halloween came quickly, most of the days before filled with Quidditch practice, or in Merlin's case watching Quidditch practice and taking care of the equipment when it was over.

Merlin, Arthur, Leon and Lancelot walked slowly toward the all-wizarding town, one of the few left in the world. Gwaine and Percy along with an excited Elyan had taken off running toward the town yelling that each would make it to the joke shop before the others. Gwen had also taken off with some of the girls from Hufflepuff House toward the small town while Morgana had been whisked away by Morgause before they even had a chance to ask her to come with them.

"Speed up a little Merlin, I'd like to get there before the feast starts tonight" Arthur teased a few steps ahead of the dark haired boy.

"Well, if I felt like you could keep up with that fat head slowing you down so much, I might pick up my pace" he shot back, smiling widely as Leon and Lancelot chuckled as Arthur's face reddened.

"You better hope my fat head slows me down enough to keep me from ripping that smile off your face" Arthur growled swiping at the back of Merlin's head.

Merlin ducked under his attack, and smiled evilly "You just admitted it _and_ proved it in less than a minute"

Arthur made another jab at the boy who dodged it by dancing behind Leon and Lancelot who were chortling with amusement.

"He got you there Arthur" Lance said happily as Merlin stuck his tongue out at his brother from behind Lance.

Before Arthur could do or say anything else, Leon spoke up "Look, that's the Three Broomsticks. My cousin told me about this place, apparently they serve really good food, and the owner's a real beauty…. Said her name was Madame Rosemerta I think it was".

The four boys stood still for a moment, deciding their next move when Arthur decided it for them "I could do for a drink"

A chorus of "Me too's" sounded around him and they walked in to the small pub.

Gwaine, Percy and Elyan met them at the Three Broomsticks lugging loads of items they had bought from Zonko's and from Honeydukes. Gwen came in a few minutes later, waving behind her as her friends from Hufflepuff walked into a different shop.

Everyone laughed when Gwen caught a sight of Madam Rosemerta, Arthur having already ducked his head when the owner came to give Gwen the drink she ordered. Merlin was still laughing at Arthur as the eight of them walked back up to the castle, Gwen scowling and Arthur trying to get her to talk to him.

Gwen stormed away from the group as soon as they had made it into the castle and everyone turned to stare at Arthur who looked a little ashamed.

"Better you than me, mate" Elyan sadi lightly patting Arthur on the shoulder, a humored smile on his face as he walked away. Percy smiled lightly at Arthur and walked away saying "Maybe she'll cool down by the time the feast starts".

"Don't worry about it Arthur" Leon said "she'll calm down"

"Yeah, you know Gwen, she can't stay mad for long" Lance said with a comforting smile.

"Thanks, but you could have said something before we went to the Three Broomsticks" he said crossly. Leon and Lance just laughed before walking the same way Gwen had.

"Nice one, princess" Gwaine chuckled.

"Shut it Gwaine" Arthur sighed as he started up for the Gryffindor common room.

"Merlin agrees with me, right Merlin?" Gwaine asked.

"What about?" Merlin asked with a smile.

"That Arthur's an idiot" Gwaine clarified with a smirk.

Merlin smirked back "That goes without saying"

"Shut up!" Arthur growled turning on the two boys and chasing them down the halls as they ran back to the common rooms.

Gwaine was massaging the back of his head in a pained manner as the three kids made their way back down to the Great Hall. Merlin was copying his movements, trying to rub out the pain from where Arthur had thrown a cup at the back of his head.

"Really, princess, you need to learn to take a joke" Gwaine gripped as he jumped down the stairs two at a time.

"And you need to learn when not to make a joke" Arthur retorted.

"Why do we keep hanging out with this guy Merlin?" Gwaine asked, looking back at the dark haired boy.

"Because he wouldn't last a day without us" Merlin answered happily.

"You mean _you_ wouldn't last a day without us" Arthur said.

"Arthur!" Merlin turned with Gwaine and Arthur to see Gwen walking toward them, her face looking more calm than when she had walked away earlier.

"See you around mate" Gwaine laughed, grabbing Merlin's wrist and dragging him into the Great Hall leaving Arthur and Gwen in the hallway by themselves.

"He's not going to like us just leaving him like that" Merlin smirked.

"Can't save him from everything Merlin" Gwaine said wisely, walking down the aisle to find a seat with the other Gryffindor's "especially not from a woman scorned".

"Who's been scorned?" asked Mordred, blue eyes peeking out from under his dark hair as he sat down next to Merlin who shifted over slightly to give him room.

"Gwen saw Arthur going to the Three Broomsticks owned by the beautiful Madam Rosemerta" Gwaine explained.

"That's right, you got to go to Hogesmade today, how was it?" he asked excitedly.

"It was great, Zonko's joke shop has everything you could think about" Gwaine replied, and Merlin could hear him getting ready to tell the first year everything about the joke shop, but thankfully Arthur sat down right then.

"Thanks for bailing" he said sarcastically.

"I thought you had it handled" Gwaine shrugged.

"What's going on?" Mordred quietly asked Merlin.

Merlin leaned over to whisper "Gwen cornered Arthur out in the hallway and we left him with her"

Mordred nodded his head and sat back to watch as Arthur fussed at Gwaine and Merlin. The rest of the feast was just as amazing as the year before, the food just delicious, and there was just as much to eat if not more. Merlin was sure he was going to explode by the time the dessert popped onto the table, but once he saw the different pies and tarts, he found that he had room left for at least one bite of everything.

"Ugh, I don't think I can make it up all of these stairs" Merlin groaned, leaning on the railings of the first floor stair case.

"Come on you girl" Arthur rolled his eyes, trying not to act like he was about to fall over asleep after having ate so much "it's not that many stairs"

"Do you know how many stairs are between us and the common room?" Merlin asked incredulously "because, quite honestly I have no idea, there are too many for me to have ever counted before!"

"Stop whining" Arthur suggested, taking his first step onto the stair case "and let's just get to the top already"

"Princess is right for once Merlin" Gwaine sighed "I just want to get back to my bed"

They fell in line with the rest of the Gryffindor's making their way back to the common room, Mordred just a few steps ahead of them as they walked. Merlin was lost in thoughts about making it back to his comfortable bed and ran right into Mordred's back when he stopped in front of them, Gwaine colliding into Merlin.

"Sorry Mordred" Merlin said stepping back as Gwaine snappishly asked "What's going on, keep moving!"

"Everyone just stopped" Mordred said in an apologetic tone as Arthur pushed past Gwaine and Merlin as he tried to find what they were stopping in the middle of the hallway for.

"The portrait's closed" Arthur said as he tried standing on his toes to see past the other students.

"Let me through, please," Percy Weasly's voice said as the red head pushed his way through the crowd, making his way to the front of the crowd of people. "What's the holdup here? You can't all have forgotten the password—excuse me, I'm Head Boy—"

With the end of Percy's words, silence fell across the students, from the front back, like a cold wind sweeping over them. In a sharp voice, Percy said in a voice loud enough to be heard through the quiet hall "Somebody get Professor Dumbledore. Quick."

"I wonder what's happening" Mordred asked curiously, and Merlin looked down at the boy. His head was cocked as though mildly curious about what was going on, though he did not seem particularly bothered by it and Merlin found himself wondering if the boy could not feel the same chill in the air that everyone else was. He looked around the group of people, taking in their faces to guage their feelings, and what he saw made him even more confused. They looked startled and curious, but no one seemed to feel as though something bad was happening, at least not the way he did.

Mordred looked up at Merlin then, his blue eyes meeting Merlin's and he answered his unasked question "I feel it too, but they don't"

Merlin's jaw dropped, and he was about to ask the boy how he had known what he was thinking, or how he knew that the others did not feel anything strange, but Professor Dumbledore chose that moment to walk into the hallway.

The Gryffindor's moved apart to make room for the Headmaster to get to the portrait, and in the confusion, Merlin ended up on the other side of the aisle they had made for Dumbledore from Mordred who had turned back toward the portrait to see what had happened.

Now that everyone had shifted around, Merlin had a straight view of the portrait that hid the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. The picture was torn in vicious slashes, strips of canvas hanging down, some littering the ground under the painting. The Fat Lady was nowhere to be seen.

Dumbledore ran his hand along the ruined canvas and looked back imploringly at Snape, McGonagall, and Lupin as he heard them come into the hallway "We need to find her"

"Professor McGonagall, please go to Mr. Filch at once and tell him to search every painting in the castle for the Fat Lady"

"You'll be lucky!" said a cackling voice.

It was Peeves the Poltergeist, bobbing over the crowd and looking delighted, as he always did, at the sight of wreckage or worry.

"What do you mean, Peeves?" Dumbledore asked, and the ghost's grin dropped slightly.

"Ashamed, Your Headship, sir. Doesn't want to be seen. She's a horrible mess. Saw her running through the landscape up on the fourth floor, sir, dodging between the trees. Crying something dreadful," he said happily. "Poor thing," he added unconvincingly.

"Did she say who did it?" said Dumbledore quietly.

"Oh yes Professorhead," said Peeves, with the air of one cradling a large bombshell in his arms. "He got very angry when she wouldn't let him in, you see." Peeves flipped over and grinned at Dumbledore from between his own legs. "Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black"

Professor Dumbledore sent all the Gryffindor's back to the Great Hall, where they were joined ten minutes later by students from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, who all looked extremely confused.

"The teachers and I need to conduct a thourough search of the castle," Professor Dumbledore told them as Professors McGonagall and Flitwick closed all doors into the hall. "I'm afraid that, for your own safety, you will have to spend the night here. I want the prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the hall and I am leaving the Head Boy and Girl in charge. Any disturbance should be reported to me immediately," he added to Percy, who was looking proud and important. "Send word with one of the ghosts."

Professor Dumbledore paused, about to leave the hall, and said, "Oh yes, you'lll be needing…"

One casual wave of his wand and the long tables flew to the edges of the hall and stood themselves against the walls; another wave, and the floor was covered with hundreds of squashy purple sleeping bags.

"Sleep well," said Professor Dumbledore, closing the door behind him.

The hall began to buzz excitedly as the Gryffindor's started explaining to the rest of the students what happened. It took no time for the knights, all except for Morgana, and Freya and Gwen to meet in one of the corners of the Great Hall, Mordred having stayed close to Merlin and the others when they had come down to the Great Hall.

"Merlin, what's going on?" Freya asked, looking over him worriedly as though expecting him to have some kind of injury.

"Yeah, when they told us there was some kind of emergency and we had to gather in the Great Hall, we assumed you had gone missing again" Elyan joked, trying to lighten the mood. A few chuckles escaped the group, but not many.

"Everyone into their sleeping bags!" shouted Percy Weasley. "Come on, now, no more talking! Lights out in ten minutes!"

The ten friends all grabbed a sleeping bag and moved them into a circle, their heads in the center so that they could whisper to each other. Out of the corner of his eye, as Merlin was smoothing down his sleeping bag, he noticed Harry and his friends moving their own sleeping bags over toward their corner, as though trying to escape the rest of the crowded room.

Arthur whispered the story about the missing Fat Lady to the rest of the group as they settled in, and Merlin could feel Freya tensing up next to him. Gwen, on her other side, reached over to grab the younger girl's hand comfortingly, Arthur holding Gwen's other hand.

Merlin rolled onto his back and looked up at the enchanted ceiling which looked like a night time sky filled with stars. All he needed was a campfire and a few horses, the smell of trees, and he would have been camping.

_Horses?_ He thought to himself _I've never even ridden a horse, I must be more tired than I thought._

Even as the thought came, it left, Merlin knew he was not getting to sleep that night. Even as his friend's conversation's died and as their snores took the place of their voiced thoughts, Merlin continued to stare up at the enchanted ceiling.

A teacher would come in periodically; checking to make sure everything was okay. Percy continued to make rounds, making sure everyone was really asleep; it was not hard to fool him that he was.

Around three in the morning, when mostly everyone had fallen asleep, Professor Dumbledore came back into the Great Hall, looking for Percy. The boy stood between Merlin's group of friends and Harry's and Merlin quickly feigned sleep as the old Headmaster came over to talk to the boy.

"Any sign of him, Professor?" asked Percy in a whisper.

"No. All well here?"

"Everything under control, sir"

"Good. There's no point moving them all now. I've found a temporary guardian for the Gryffindor portrait hole. You'lll be able to move them back in tomorrow."

"And the Fat Lady, sir?"

"Hiding in a map of Argyllshire on the second floor. Apparently she refused to let Black in without the password, so he attacked. She's still very distressed, but once she's calmed down, I'll have Mr. Flich restore her."

The door opened and closed and a set of footsteps made their way to Dumbledore and Percy.

"Headmaster?" Snape said "The whole of the third floor has been searched. He's not there. And Filch has done the dungeons; nothing there either"

"What about the Astronomy tower? Professor Trelawney's room? The Owlery?"

"All searched…"

"Very well Severus. I didn't really expect Black to linger."

"Have you any theory as to how he got in, Professor?" asked Snape.

"Many, Severus, each of them as unlikely as the next"

"You remember the conversation we had, Headmaster, just before—ah—the start of term?"

"I do, Severus" Dumbledore replied.

"It seems—almost impossible—that Black could have entered the school without inside help. I did express my concerns when you appointed—"

"I do not believe a single person inside this castle would have helped Black enter it," Dumbledore said. "I must go down to the dementors. I said I would inform them when our search was complete"

"Didn't they want to help, sir?" Percy asked.

"Oh yes," Dumbledore said coldly. "But I'm afraid no dementor will cross the threshold of this castle while I am Headmaster."

Merlin listened as three sets of footsteps walked away, and he knew one thing for certain—there was no chance he was getting any sleep that night.

**Soo, I just want to apologize for how long I've been away. I know you were all used to my regular updates and there is just no excuse other than I was busy. Between final exams and work and this writing contest I couldn't even finish my entry for, I ran out of time for my story, but don't worry, because I'm back and I am not abandoning this story—or the ones after it.**


	11. Chapter 11

Over the next few days, the school was full of rumors and guesses about how Sirius Black could have gotten into the school. As the days went on, the stories became wilder and wilder, escalating to the point that a Hufflepuff student swore up and down that Black was able to turn himself into a flowering shrub.

In place of Gryffindor's usual guardian, Sir Cadogan, a portrait of a fat little knight with an equally fat gray pony was put up. The eccentric little man went on and on about quests and honorable knightly duties, duels and taking care of wrong doers. He swore that he would take care not to let anyone intrude upon the Gryffindor students that could put them in harm's way, and part of this oath apparently included constantly changing the password from one ridiculous thing to another, which many of the students were having trouble keeping up with—including Neville who forgot them daily and took to writing them down.

Many of the Gryffindor's complained, but nothing could be done as Sir Cadogan was the only picture in the whole school it seemed that would even consider doing the job.

Sir Cadogan was not the only increase in security however, he was only the most noticeable. Merlin saw how the teachers would make excuses to stay close to Harry, how he was never alone, and how Percy Weasley would tail him whenever possible. It made sense, after all, Harry was the one Black was after, Merlin was just glad he did not have to deal with all that.

Gryffindor was scheduled for the first Quidditch match for the year, against Slytherin no less. Malfoy however, the Slytherin's seeker, was still too injured to play after Buckbeaks 'attack'. Everyone in the school knew what a talented healer Madam Pompfrey was and they all knew that Malfoy was faking it, but no one said anything for the lack of proof. Merlin was not very surprised to find the Slytherins taking an easy out that did not count against them, the weather that week had been steadily getting worse. Whichever team was chosen to take Slytherin's place would be having a rough game that Saturday.

He really should have guessed, and he did not know why he was even surprised when he found out that it would be the Knights playing against Gryffindor this Saturday. Seeing Arthur so excited held Merlin's tongue each time he was about to remind the other boy that it would be storming, and raining cats and dogs and those were not the best conditions to play in.

The day before the match, the weather took a turn for the worse—if that was even possible. Added to that, as Merlin walked through the door to the Defense classroom, instead of finding Lupin standing behind his desk as usual, he found Snape watch the class trickle in slowly.

"Sit down then" Snape instructed as the start of class bell rang. He watched with cold eyes as the students followed his direction before he began to pace in front of the blackboard. "Professor Lupin requested that I take his place for the day, he said he was too ill to come in. He was apparently too ill to remember that I would need a record about where you—"

"Sorry I'm late, Professor Lupin, I—"

Everyone looked around to see Harry standing in the doorway of the classroom, looking confused at seeing Snape standing in Lupin's spot.

"This lesson began ten minutes ago, Potter," Snape said with a light sneer. Merlin narrowed his eyes, the bell had barely rung five minutes ago let alone ten "so I think we'll make it ten points form Gryffindor. Sit down."

Merlin rolled his eyes as Harry stubbornly stayed where he was.

"Where's Professor Lupin?" he said

"He says he is feeling too ill to teach today," Snape answered with a twisted smile "I believe I told you to sit down?"

Harry of course did not listen.

"What's wrong with him?" he asked and Merlin could hear the unasked _What did you do to him?_

"Nothing" Snape answered both questions then added "life-threatening".

"Five more points from Gryffindor, and if I have to ask you to sit down again, it will be fifty"

Merlin sighed in relief when Harry did as he was asked, albeit slowly. "As I was saying before Potter interrupted, Professor Lupin has not left any record of the topics you have covered so far—"

"Please, sir, we've done boggarts, Red Caps, kappas, and grindlylows," said Hermione quickly, "and we're just about to start—"

"Be quiet," said Snape coldly. "I did not ask for information. I was merely commenting on Professor Lupin's lack of organization."

"He's the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher we've ever had," said Dean Thomas boldly, and there was a murmur of agreement from the rest of the class. Merlin could practically see Snape's aura growing darker and more menacing.

"You are easily satisfied. Lupin is hardly overtaxing you,-I would expect first years to be able to deal with Red Caps and grindylows. Today we shall discuss—"

Snape flipped through the textbook, to the very back chapter, and Merlin wondered what the man was up too.

"—werewolves" finished Snape.

"But sir," Hermione said "we're not supposed to do werewolves yet, we're due to start hinkypunks—"

"Miss Granger," Snape said, turning his icy gaze to the bushy haired girl "I was under the impression I was teaching this lesson, not you. And I am telling you to trun to page 394." He looked around the room "_All_ of you! _Now!_"

The fluttering of pages and the muttering of students filled the room and quieted again when Snape asked the class "Which of you can tell me how we distinguish between the werewolf and the true wolf?"

Hermione's hand raised, though it was the only one, and as usual, Snape did his best to ignore her.

"Anyone?" he asked "Merlin?" he looked at the dark haired boy who just shook his head in answer "Are you telling me Professor Lupin hasn't even taught you the basic distinction between—"

"We, told you," Parvati Patil said "we haven't got as far as werewolves yet, we're still on—"

"_Silence!_" snarled Snape "Well, well, well, I never thought I'd meet a third-year class who wouldn't even recognize a werewolf when they saw one. I shall make a point of informing Professor Dumbledore how very behind you all are…"

"Please, sir," said Hermione, whose hand was still in the air "the werewolf differs from the true wolf in several small ways. The snout of the werewolf—"

"That is the second time you have spoken out of turn, Miss Granger," Snape said coolly. "Five more points form Gryffindor for being an insufferable know-it-all."

"Hey!" Merlin protested, but was beat to the rest of his rebuke by Ron who was leaning most of his weight against his desk as though trying to hold himself back from leaping at Snape.

"You asked us a question and she knows the answer! Why ask if you don't want to be told?"

Ron had gone too far, and Merlin felt bad for the boy as the class watched Snape advance on him slowly.

"Detention, Weasley," Snape said silkily, his face very close to Ron's. "And if I ever hear you criticize the way I teach a class again, you will be very sorry indeed."

No one made a sound throughout the rest of the lesson. They sat and made notes on werewolves from the textbook, while Snape prowled up and down the rows of desks, examining the work they had been doing with Professor Lupin.

"Very poorly explained…That is incorrect, the kappa is more commonly found in Mongolia…. Professor Lupin gave this eight out of ten? I wouldn't have given it three…."

When the bell rang at last, Snape held them back.

"You will each write an essay, to be handed in to me, on the ways you recognize and kill werewolves." Snape looked Merlin directly in the eye as though trying to get some point across. "I want two rolls of parchment on the subject, and I want them by Monday morning. It is time somebody took this class in hand" he looked away finally, leaving Merlin wondering what the man had been trying to communicate; the look had obviously meant something. "Weasley, stay behind, we need to arrange your detention."

Merlin sighed, and took up his things for the class—it looked like he was going to have a long night, a whole paper on werewolves as well as Arthur's and Gwaine's as they would no doubt ask him for help. He sighed again, and avoided Snape's eyes as the man tried to convey the message again, Merlin just was not up for trying to guess what was going through Snape's mind.

Merlin was standing in the locker rooms with the rest of the team, waiting to hear Arthur give his before-game-speech. The others were pulling on their robes and checking their brooms over to make sure they were fit for the match.

"Alright everyone," Arthur started, broom in hand with the handle leaning against his shoulder, his sky blue eyes looking around at his teammates. "Gryffindor's a good team, and they've been practicing almost more than we have, and this is less than favorable conditions to playing in—"

A snort came from one of the players, and Merlin had his bets on Gwaine who had his teeth in another green apple—where did he keep getting those?—but Arthur ignored it and continued on with his speech.

"—no doubt they've decided to go with the end-the-game-fast approach. Wood wants to win it this year, it's his last year and Gryffindor's not won the cup in a long time, he's going to be playing his best, and he's going to focus on getting the snitch. Elyan, shadow Harry but don't make it too obvious, keep a lookout yourself, but don't let him see it first, and if he does, don't let him get the snitch"

Elyan gave a nod of his head and Arthur inclined his own before turning back to the others "The rest of you, we've been doing great in practice and there's no reason why we couldn't win today. They have older players, more experienced players, and a captain who's drive to win the Quidditch cup probably would be hard to rival. We on the other hand, have something to prove. You noticed no one else showed up to try out this year, they still aren't convinced a team outside of the houses can win, but we can show them that we can!"

Merlin found himself clapping along with the players, smiling at how well Arthur was at giving inspiring speeches. "Alright Merlin, you better go get a good seat to watch us win this"

Merlin smirked at Arthur "Don't get too cocky before you've even played, you pratt"

"Shut up you idiot, I know we're going to win, no use waiting to find out what I know" he smiled back.

"Go on, then, Merlin. Faster you get your seat, the faster you'll see us prove our captain right" Lance said loyally, clapping the dark haired boy on the shoulder. Merlin nodded and walked out of the locker rooms and up to the stands. It only took a second to find a seat, Hagrid and Gwen had saved him one, and the large man was waving him over. Freya and Mordred sat next to the two and they slid over to make room.

"Wha' ya think Merlin, have we got a chance?" Hagrid asked smiling widely from under his bushy beard.

"Of course, we've been practicing for a month now" Merlin said confidently.

"Who exactly am I supposed to be cheering for?" Mordred asked quietly looking back and forth between the two teams as they walked out onto the field. "I mean, I'm in Gryffindor, but so are some of the knights"

"Depends, who do you want to win?" Gwen asked nicely.

"Um…." Mordred shrugged.

"Okay, how many friends do you have on the Gryffindor team?" Merlin asked the boy as Madam Hooch blew the whistle and the players rose into the air.

"Well, they're all really nice, but they're not really my friends or anything" Mordred mused allowed.

Merlin nodded "And how many on the Knights team?"

"Well, Gwaine and Arthur… Leon talks to me whenever he sees me…"

"Looks like you have your answer" Gwen said with a smile and he smiled back.

Merlin turned to watch the game, but it was difficult to see through the sheets of rain and mist. Blurs of blue and gold and red and gold were all he could see to differentiate the two teams. Over the howling wind, he could only catch small phrases of Lee Jordan's commentary. "Weasley—not sure which—hits the bludger, nice block from Belby" "Morgana Pedgragon catches the quaffle from Spinnett" "Pendragon blocks a goal" "Kirke gets past Wood! 20-10 Gryffindor"

As more time went by, the harder the storm became and the less Merlin could understand. The first thing he was able to hear after a long howling of wind was Madam Hooch blowing her whistle for a time out just as a flash of lightening filled the sky.

"Hmm, Wood called I'" Hagrid mumbled, watching Gryffindor's team through a pair of binoculars "Is tha' Hermione?"

"What's she doing, Hagrid?" Merlin asked the large man who was still looking through the binoculars.

"Looks like she's puttin' some kind'a spell on Harry's glasses" Merlin raised one of his eyebrows before jumping up and running to the edge of the stands. Arthur and the Knights were standing just under the stands.

"Merlin?" Arthur questioned, looking up at the dark haired boy.

"Arthur, Hermione just put some kind of spell on Harry's glasses, probably to help him see through the rain!" Arthur's eyes widened and he turned back to his team, talking hurriedly. Madam Hooch blew the whistle for the game to restart and Merlin returned to his seat as the players flew back into the air.

The storm grew worse after that, thunder and lightning coming more and more frequently. Merlin could no longer hear anything past the wind and the pattering of the rain, his fingers numb from being soaked for so long.

Then, just barely through the haze of rain, he caught a glimpse of a blue and gold figure rushing through the sky, and he knew Elyan must have caught sight of the snitch, but when a red and gold figure started following, he knew that Harry had seen it too.

Both were zipping through the air, cutting through the torrent of water, but something odd was happening. An eerie silence was falling across the stadium. The wind, though as strong as ever, was forgetting to roar.

A sickening wave of cold fell over Merlin, and by the way everyone was looking about themselves, they could feel it too. Below the players, just under the stands, a hoard of dementors were swarming, their necks craned back to look up at the fourteen students on broomsticks.

Merlin looked directly at Harry, everyone had heard how the creature on the train had affected him, and it was happening again. The boy with the glasses was tensed on his broom, and even from where Merlin sat, he looked to pale. Green eyes were battling a fruitless fight to stay open. In slow motion, his eyes shut, and his hold on his broom loosened until he was falling right for the ground.

**Not too much exciting happened to Merlin in this chapter sadly, but don't worry, it'll pick back up pretty soon. Please keep reading and R&R if you get the chance. **


	12. Chapter 12

"Arthur, let it go and just be glad we won a match" Gwaine sighed, getting fed up with Arthur's mood.

"We only won because the dementors affect Harry differently than everyone else, it's not right!" Arthur said sullenly "it should be a draw"

"Arthur!" Gwaine said rounding on the blonde "Elyan is just as good a seeker as Harry. You have no idea what would have happened if the dementors had stayed away, we could have had the same outcome, so let it go"

"But they were there, and it's not fair to Wood and Harry" Arthur argued.

"It's already been decided and Dumbledore isn't going to change his mind on the matter, let. It. Go." Gwaine said before walking away from the sulking Arthur.

"Gwaine's right Arthur" Merlin said from where he was sitting next to the boy at the breakfast table, "even Harry said he didn't want to take the win away from us"

"It's not fair though, Merlin. The kid fainted in front of the entire school, got his broom smashed by the Whomping Willow, and nearly died from falling from that height right into a swarm of dementors"

"Well, if it makes you feel better" Merlin mused "we could do something to lose all of the points we gained for our house by winning the match"

"Shut up you idiot, of course we're not going to do that—Gwaine doesn't need any help losing all of our points" he chuckled while they both watched Gwaine shooting a jelly legs hex at a first year who had just taken the last apple out of the fruit bowl sitting in the middle of the breakfast table, an irate Professor McGonagall swooping down on him angiryly.

* * *

Professor Lupin was back in class the next day, and he told the students that they did not have to complete the essay on werewolves. Hermione was distraught, having already finished hers, and Merlin was a little annoyed as well though he did not show it as he pushed his own completed essay deeper into his books.

The day only got better when it was announced that there would be a Hogesmade trip the weekend before the Christmas holidays. This news seemed to finally bring Arthur out of his bad mood about the Quidditch match, instead he decided that they needed to practice even more so that the next time they won, they would know it was because of skill and not luck.

* * *

The last Saturday of the term finally came around, and Merlin was excited to go back to Hogesmade. Gwen had managed to get Morgana to agree to walk down with them and find Morgause later.

Arthur and Leon were talking animatedly about their latest strategy to try out at their next Quidditch practice. Gwaine, Elyan, and Percy were going on about new pranks they could pull and what they would need to buy from Zonko's. Morgana and Gwen were speaking quietly together, randomly looking over their shoulders at the boys—mainly Arthur—and whispering some more.

"Next year Freya will be in on that little discussion and Arthur won't be the only one they keep looking back at" Lance said coming up beside of Merlin.

Merlin's face went red at the thought, "Maybe we should stop going in such a large group"

Lance laughed at that "What's the fun in that?"

Merlin gave the tanned boy a sidelong look "Why don't you get yourself a girl and we'll invite _her_ along"

The other boy laughed lightly and rubbed the back of his head and Merlin noticed the way his gaze moved over to Gwen before snapping away quickly "Maybe we'll just think about your idea a little more" Merlin nodded his head in victory. "Are you ready for Christmas?"

"Yeah, get to go home, see the family…. Why wouldn't I?" Merlin asked apprehensively.

"Because if I'm not mistaken, it's the whole 'seeing your family' thing that is making you grimace like that" Lance replied calmly. Merlin had not told most of his friends about why he had left his house to live with Gaius, but Lance had eventually gotten him to explain the story. Other than Lance, the only other students who knew the whole story were Harry and Ron and that was because Merlin had ran into them a few days after it had happened while he was shopping for school supplies in Diagon Alley.

Merlin sighed "Every time I go back to that town, something bad happens. Last time I didn't even see Uther and I ended up in the hospital"

Lance nodded his head "You don't have to keep going back there, just to make Arthur happy"

Merlin looked over at Arthur a few feet in front of them "Yes I do. I don't want to put anything between us, and I can't just tell him how bad his father is"

"He needs to know the truth Merlin. If this keeps going on, and Morgana leaves—and you know she won't stay much longer—the only person Uther will have in reaching distance to take his hate out on will be Arthur. He'll be hurt worse if you let this go on. As much as the man might try and refuse it about his son, Arthur has magic, and one day that's going to sink in."

Merlin looked down at his shoes, he knew Lance was right, but he did not want to admit it. "Just think about it Merlin, you don't have to anything now, but you will have to do something someday…and I hope that day isn't too late"

The dark haired boy was relieved to find that they had reached Hogesmade and he did not have to answer Lance. He knew the boy was right, but he still could not bring himself to even think about telling Arthur the whole story.

"Let's go in Honeydukes first" Gwen suggested "I want to get a few things from there before we go into Zonko's"

"Probably a good idea" Morgana said smirking at the three pranksters behind her "maybe they'll spend some of their money so they won't be able to get all the things on their pranking lists"

"Thanks for the warning Morgana, I'll make sure to keep enough to buy what I need for your prank" Gwaine replied silkily as he pushed past the two girls to lead the way into the candy shop. Not to be outdone, Morgana made sure she was the next one in the door, holding it open for Gwen before rushing after Gwaine.

Honeydukes was filled to the brim with students milling around looking at all the different kinds of candy. Merlin could see Ron and Hermione standing under a sign that Read 'Unusual Tastes'. Ron was picking at a red colored lollipop, Hermione shaking her head and neither saw Harry moving through the crowded room. He saw Hermione jump as Harry reached them before Merlin turned back to the others.

Gwen was piling a large amount of candy into Arthur's arms, Arthur looking slightly confused but continued to stand there as she loaded his arms with goodies. Next to Arthur, Elyan stood with his arms already full of many different candies.

"Got enough yet Gwen?" Morgana asked humorously "I think Elyan's arms are going to break under all of that candy"

Gwen looked over at Elyan as though she had forgotten he was standing there "You may be right Morgana" she looked at Arthur who was also starting to sink under his load of candy before she turned to her right "Percy! Come over here for a minute please!"

Merlin sniggered as she made Percy lighten the loads the two other boys were carrying before piling some more things into Lance's arms who had been sniggering at the others. The boy stood there as she filled the candy higher and higher until finally deciding she had enough "All right boys, now let's go check out, shall we"

Gwaine ran a hand through his hair in amusement as the four boys followed the dark skinned girl to the checkout counter, not asking any questions about why they were carrying all of that candy. Merlin smiled at his friends before looking over at the door as the bell sounded. He saw as Harry and the others walked out of the small store and walked down the street out of sight.

There were more students from Hogwarts all over the street, as well as a few other wizards that lived in the town or were just passing through. A dark skinned man wearing purple robes, a young couple with a child in their arms, three men that looked just old enough to be out of school, and a dark haired woman wearing a red dress that hugged her body, long hair hanging down her back, and startling blue eyes that trapped his with an intensity that paralyzed him in place….

Merlin did a double take, but the woman was already gone. Where she had been Merlin saw an old house, vines crawling up the walls, no one standing in front of it, not even a shadow that could have been mistaken as someone. His heart had run cold, ice pushed through his veins and he must have been pale because Gwaine had noticed his change in mood.

"Merlin, mate, you all right?"

"Yeah, fine…." Merlin said, scanning the street outside the door for the woman, but she was long gone, if she was even there at all.

"What's up?" Arthur asked as he and the others came back up to join them.

"Merlin just suddenly freaked out like he saw a ghost or something" Gwaine answered.

Arthur looked at Merlin. Merlin tried to look normal, but by Arthur's expression it was obvious that he failed. The blonde looked out of the door quizzically, trying to follow the dark haired boy's line of sight, trying to find what had scared the boy.

"… Maybe we should go to the Three Broomsticks for a drink" Arthur offered, and Merlin assumed he looked really bad because Gwen seemed to agree with the idea. Arthur's eyebrows were drawn together in a frown and he kept his attention on Merlin.

"I'm fine" Merlin protested.

"Stop Merlin, you're obviously not" Morgana said "let's go get a drink"

Being outnumbered, Merlin let his friends guide him to the Three Broomsticks, the whole time he kept looking around, jumping whenever he saw someone wearing red. Lance guided him to one of the seats and someone ordered a round of butterbeers.

"I'm not going to fall apart" Merlin said unconvincingly as his frined's eyes stayed trained on him and their normal banter seemed to fall flat even to his distracted sense.

"Right, keep telling yourself that" Percy joked, taking a sip of his own drink, all of their eyes trained on Merlin.

"Maybe we should go back to the castle" Gwen suggested calmly. Merlin saw the looks on Gwaine's, Elyan's, and Percy's faces, remembering how excited they had been to go to Zonko's joke shop, and he was going to argue even though he knew they would insist it was fine to go back to the castle when another voice interrupted him.

"What a very good suggestion, Miss Coote"

Everyone at the table turned to look at the man standing over Merlin's shoulder. Snape, wearing all black as usual, his greasy hair falling into his eyes was staring murderously down at the dark haired boy.

"Professor Snape,-" Merlin began but once again was cut off by the Potions Master.

"What do you think you're doing out of the castle?" Snape hissed, grabbing the boy just under his elbow and lifting him out of his seat to face him.

"My permission form has been signed Professor,—" Merlin began but was again cut off.

"Just because you have that form signed does not mean you should be out here. I'm taking you back to the castle. _Now!_" The Potions Master said pulling Merlin towards the door, the boy, too confused to think, did not even try to pull his arm out of the man's grip.

"What are you doing?" Arthur asked angrily standing up at the table they had all been sitting at, Gwaine and Lance standing behind him.

"He has his permission form signed, Professor. He has every right to be out here with us" Morgana added, standing next to her brother, the others ready to stand if they thought it would help.

Snape rounded on the students sitting around the table, "How stupid are you, you really think it was a good idea to bring him out here while there's an escaped criminal on the lose, one that has recently been sighted near here?"

"That has nothing to do with it" Gwen said angrily, standing next to the others, the four who had already been standing having gone quiet at Snape's question. "If Dumbledore thought it was unsafe for any of us to come to Hogesmade, he would have canceled the trip"

"It may be safe for you, but Merlin here should not be leaving the castle until she has been caught" Snape answered, and Merlin looked up at the Potion's Master to see genuine worry hidden behind his angry façade.

"I thought Sirius Black was a man" Leon said unsurely.

"Not Black you fool, Nimueh!" Snape glared at the boy "and she's already tried to poison the boy once and yet you think it was a good idea to bring him out of the castle?"

Four pairs of eyes widenend in surprise at Snape's comment, while four others darkened in the guilt they were feeling for not having thought of this before. Arthur sat back down heavily, head in his hands, muttering softly "I keep putting him in danger"

Morgana sat next to her brother, Lance and Gwaine to numb to even lower themselves back into their seats. Merlin could see the emotions behind his friends' eyes, and he felt bad for making them worry like this.

"We're going back to the castle" Snape said looking down at Merlin as though daring the boy to argue, but he knew it would do no good, so he silently followed the dark Professor back to the castle, trying not to jump when he saw people in red in case he let the Professor know his fears were valid.

* * *

"I don't think this is really necessary" Merlin groaned, sitting across in a large, soft chair across from Dumbledore's desk, the old man looking at the boy curiously as he rested his head on his clasped hands. Professors Snape and McGonagall were also in the room, both standing—in McGonagall's case, pacing.

"Quiet" Snape said before turning back to the headmaster. "As I was saying, Merlin should not be allowed to go to Hogesmade until the escapees have been captured, in fact, he should be put under the same restrictions and securities that Mr. Potter is under"

Dumbledore turned his penetrating gaze over to Snape, just staring as though waiting for him to continue his argument.

"I think I would like to hear the details of their encounter once more before we decide anything" McGonagall said, still walking across the room, rubbing her head as though to relieve a headache.

Dumbledore nodded to Merlin to tell his story again, so the boy recited the accounts of that night "I went to visit Arthur, we were sitting at the park and a woman walks up and gives us a free drink—"

"Only one?" McGonagall questions though she knew the answer.

"Yeah, only one. Anyways—"

"And she meant for _you_ to have it?" she asked, still pacing.

"Well, I answered first, but I'm not really sure. She handed it right to me, but I doubt she would have passed up giving it to Arthur… she might have even meant for us to share it." Merlin gave a small shrug, he had no idea what the woman had in her mind that night.

"No, Nimueh Gibbons would not have simply given it to you by chance" Snape shook his head "she would have planned out who would drink it, she would have killed her intended target, and that was no doubt you"

"But I didn't die" Merlin argued.

"And no doubt she expected that outcome as well" Dumbledore spoke finally, McGonagall stopping in her tracks to listen to the wizened man. "It is likely she meant only to send a message rather than kill. We in this room all know of your…special talents, Mr. Pendragon and no doubt there are some others that are close to you who know as well, even some who simply know by accident"

Merlin nodded his head, he could think of some people who knew, some who could guess, and some he was unsure about.

"It was rumored, during Lord Voldemort's time, that he had some followers who were able to perform terribly powerfull and complex spells, spells you do not see today, without the use of a wand. It is entirely possible that Nimueh is one such person, and if so, she may be able to recognize others who are able to use such magic… and if this is so…"

"She would not want to kill him" Snape said somberly, looking down at Merlin with what looked like pity.

"She would intend to recruit him?" McGonagall asked shocked.

Dumbledore nodded his head slowly "It is entirely possible"

"I wouldn't join her" Merlin said with a deep resolve. Just the thought of the woman was enough to make his hair stand on end, there was no way he would join her, and he would never become a death eater.

"She would not give you a choice in the matter" Dumbledore replied gravely, and once again, Merlin's veins turned to ice, and his arteries turned to pure fire. It was a horrible feeling, and he just wanted the thought out of his mind, to escape the idea.

"I think Professor Snape is right in his decision, Mr. Pendragon. You will not be allowed to leave the school unless it is to go home for the holidays or the end of term. I'm sure you have noticed Mr. Potter's extra security measures, as Professor Snape put it, you will be just as guarded, of course we will try to be discreet. I understand what a burden that could put on you, seeming too special in front of your peers can cause unrest and even betrayal…"

Merlin nodded numbly. He had only recently been thinking how horrible it would be to be in Harry's place, with all the extra security and the eyes following him everywhere, and now he was in the same position.

He wasn't sure how he had even made it back to the common room, when he had left Dumbledore's office, if he had even been dismissed. Merlin's mind was whirling with thoughts, most of them having to do with Nimueh, with his magic, and so much more. It took him ages to make it up to his dormitory and to walk over to his bed, but it only took a second to see what was waiting for him.

A small slip of paper, neatly folded to stand waiting for him, his name elegantly spelled out on the front. Slowly, feeling the menacing aura surrounding the paper, he numbly flipped the note open to find more of the elegant script written out in a short letter.

_Merlin, _

_They think they can keep you safe, lock you up in this big castle and keep me out, but you won't stay in the castle forever will you? Christmas is coming soon, and there won't be any teachers to stand between us, not that I could not just walk right in and leave a letter lying on your bed anyways. _

_I'll wait though, just to make sure we are not interrupted. After all, I will be seeing you soon, I am invited to Christmas dinner, aren't I? I can hardly wait to see Arthur and Morgana, and it has been so long since I saw Uther, and Gaius! It has been too long, but you should not worry, I will be there mainly to see you, the others are just a little bonus._

_Until then,_

_Careful what you drink,_

_Nimueh _

The door opened behind him, and Merlin quickly stuffed the letter under his pillow, turning to see Harry at the door.

"Hey Merlin, how're you?" he asked politely as he crossed the room to his own four poster.

"Just great" he replied quietly, trying not to sound as though his veins had just turned icy for the third time that day, though he hardly noticed as his body had not yet recovered from his earlier shock.

**I know this ties in more with what happens with Harry—how he's not allowed in Hogesmade—but he started out not being allowed to visit the town. Merlin,( still with his own plotline don't worry,) would not have been so worried about by the teachers and Gaius would have signed the form for him, and he would have tried his best not to let others know that Nimueh had poisoned him, so the teachers would not be so protective of him the way they are with Harry—plus in the wizarding world's mind, he's not as important. **

**Snape however, knowing that Nimueh had poisoned Merlin knows he is in as much danger as Harry—more since Black isn't really after him—and wants him to be safe as well. **

** Snape's and Merlin's parental bonding moments are kinda just a way for me to slowly fix Snape's character because I felt bad for him after the seventh book, it really wasn't important at first, but I like their bonding moments—in case anyone was wondering why I put them together in random chapters. **

**Anyway, this was just in case you didn't understand why I wrote it out this way instead of having him already banned from Hogesmade, please keep reading!**


	13. Chapter 13

Merlin woke the next morning when he felt something soft hit his head. Blearily he looked up to find Arthur, dressed in his normal, muggle clothes, with his finger to his mouth in a shushing gesture pointing to the rest of the room's sleeping occupants. Gwaine stood behind him, yawning quietly also wearing muggle clothing.

The first day of the holidays, Merlin wanted to hide under his bed. Ignoring this instinct though, he got up and got dressed and followed his friends quietly out of the dormitory.

"Why'd you wake me up so early, the train doesn't pick us up for" Merlin looked up at the clock hanging over the fire in the common room "another three hours"

"We wanted to go visit Hagrid before we left" Gwaine explained.

"But we're not supposed to leave the castle" Merlin argued, still following the boys down the hallways, Sir Cadogan calling after them to 'stand and fight with honor'.

"It's pretty early" Arthur said, looking out one of the windows and the slowly lightening sky "I doubt anyone will see us go out and we'll be back by the time breakfast is being served. No one will know"

Snape's face, with a disapproving look, appeared in Merlin's mind, but he quickly pushed it to the side. Nimueh's note had said she would not be coming to the castle, at least not until after Christmas—if he was even at the castle after Christmas.

"Alright then" Merlin gave in and followed his friends down to the ground level of the castle and out the front door. No one stopped them, or likely even noticed. They walked across the grounds, morning dew catching on their pant legs as they made their way down to Hagrid's small hut.

Arthur was raising his hand to knock on the wooden door when they heard a wailing from inside, and the soft moaning of the Giant Boarhound, Fang. The three boys looked at each other a moment before Gwaine nodded for Arthur to go ahead and knock.

"Hagrid, open up, it's Arthur!" the blond called as he beat on the wooden door in front of them.

They heard the wailing turn to giant sobs and the sound grew closer as the giant man crossed his hut and pulled open the door. He looked down at them with red, puffy eyes.

"What's going on Hagrid?" Merlin asked, even though they all knew what this had to mean.

"Buckbeak's…Buck—beeaaak—ahhh" he sobbed incoherently, handing them a letter he had been gripping in his hand before walking forlornly back into his hut and sitting down heavily on his bed next to the hippogriff in question.

The boys did not ask what the creature was doing inside, let alone on the bed, instead they just piled in and looked over each other's shoulders to read the letter.

_Dear Mr. Hagrid,_

_ Further to our inquiry into the attack by a hippogriff on a student in your class, we have accepted the assurances of Professor Dumbledore that you bear no responsibility for the regrettable incident. _

_ However, we must register our concern about the hippogriff in question. We have decided to uphold the official complaint of Mr. Lucius Malfoy, and this matter will therefore be taken to the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures. The hearing will take place on April 20__th__, and we ask you to present yourself and your hippogriff at the Committee's offices in London on that date. In the meantime, the hippogriff should be kept tethered and isolated._

_ Yours in fellowship…_

There followed a list of school governors.

"Well that's alright, isn't? Buckbeak's innocent" Arthur said jovially. Merlin had his doubts though, if Lucius Malfoy were in anyway involved, it was likely to end badly for Hagrid.

Hagrid himself was shaking his head mournfully, sniffling as he did so "These people, they don't care anythin' 'bout interesting creatures. They'll be doin' their best to see 'em put down"

"Is there anything we can do?" Gwaine asked, his normally smiling face brought down by the somber mood.

"No, bu' it means a lot tha' you offered" he sniffed again and gave them a shaky smile "I'm sorry ter tell ya this bad news righ' before yer holidays an all"

"It's fine Hagrid, and everything will turn out okay. If they let you, we'd happily go as witnesses to the court date" Arthur offered, the other two boys nodding readily.

Hagrid shook his head again "I doubt they'll even le' me bring up the subjec' o' having any witnesses" then he looked at them with a small, sad smile.

* * *

"Poor Hagrid!" Freya said sadly after Merlin and Arthur recounted what happened to her, Gwen and Morgana on the train. Gwaine was telling the same story to Percy, Lance, Leon and Elyan in the compartment across the aisle.

Morgana looked down at her lap, clearly thinking about how much time she spent with the Malfoy's "I can't believe they would do this"

"I can" Arthur grumbled under his breath. Morgana shot him a scowl, but it looked half-hearted. Merlin could see the same doubts in her eyes that he had been seeing most of the term when she had been with the Malfoy siblings.

"Any way, we won't know anything definite until after the trial, there's plenty of time for him to come up with a case to prove Buckbeak's innocence" Merlin said with more conviction than he felt.

"Yeah, and once we get back, we can help him look up some things that might help" Gwen said.

Merlin smiled at her optimism, and Freya's hand brushed the back of his lightly before pulling away to rest on top of Mage's carrier. The little tortoiseshell was curled in a ball snoring softly.

The rest of the train ride the five friends talked about other things, what they were doing for the holidays, the latest gossip from school, and what they hoped to get from who for Christmas. In the middle of the trip, Arthur pulled out his chess board and played against Merlin who won twice out of the five games they played.

When they made it to the station, the group met with the rest of the Knights and they all said their goodbyes, taking almost a half-hour to do so. Gaius was waiting on the three siblings when they left their friends, offering to take Arthur and Morgana home so they would not have to take a cab.

Uther stayed inside when they pulled up to the house, not grateful enough to come out and thank Gaius for giving his kids a ride home when he was too stubborn to do so. Gaius drove Merlin and himself back home then, a silent ride though not uncomfortable.

Gaius helped Merlin bring his things back into the house. The smell of potions and well-worn books greeting him and telling him he was home. When he had first moved in with the older physician, the smells had been an acquired taste, but the longer he stayed, the more precious the smells became.

"How's school been?" Gaius asked the boy after they had stored his trunk under Merlin's bed.

"It's been… interesting" Merlin said a little wearily. Gaius gave him a look, his eyebrow raised near his hairline and Merlin gave out a long sigh before telling him everything that had happened throughout the semester, all except for the note.

The older man ran a hand through his long silvery hair and let out his own sigh "I shouldn't have let you keep that permission form"

Merlin looked up at his guardian, shocked "What?"

"I cured you of a _poison_ only a few days before you went to school, and I let you go back with a permission form that would allow you to leave the safety of the castle. And worse, I didn't even think to tell the Professor's to keep a look out for you. I'm a horrible guardian…I—I, I can't take care of you…"

"Gaius!" Merlin said, even more shocked. He put his hands on his father figure's shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "You're the best, and you are way better than who I used to live with—he actually tried to kill me"

Gaius shook his head "I might as well have"

Merlin rolled his eyes "You've saved my life twice now Gaius, I wouldn't be alive without you. You're a great guardian and I couldn't have anyone better"

The old physician looked at his charge and gave a small smile "You're only saying that to make me feel better"

"Yes" Merlin admitted with a small smirk "But that doesn't mean it's not true"

Gaius smirked back "You are a lot of trouble to try and keep safe"

"And you're doing a very good job at it" Merlin consoled. Gaius put a grateful hand on Merlin's shoulder, giving him a warm smile.

"You should probably get some rest" Gaius gave another sigh "We're going over to Uther's tomorrow".

"Hello Gaius" Morgana said giving the older man a hug, before pulling Merlin inside by the arm taking him into the living room.

"Uther's already in a bad mood, and Arthur of course is on his side, so be careful" she whispered looking over her shoulder as though making sure no one was about to walk in the room and hear their conversation.

"Great, what's new?" Merlin asked, annoyed to find himself looking over his shoulder too.

"Not much" admitted Morgana "other than having our Christmas Dinner three days before Christmas"

"Change isn't too bad" Merlin said quietly, thinking of a note that had not been off his mind since he had found it. Morgana gave him a strange look before shrugging and walking out of the room, Merlin following her out.

"Just fine, and how have you been doing Gaius?" Uther asked, sitting at the head of the table, Gaius sitting on his left, Arthur just across from the physician.

"Well, I've just recently received word that I will be getting a promotion soon"

Uther nodded his head in an unconcerned manner.

"That's great Gaius" Morgana said enthusiastically as she sat down next to Arthur, Merlin sitting next to Gaius.

"Thank you, Morgana" Gaius replied with a smile at the black haired girl. "Merlin was telling me you are having some difficulty in Divination"

Morgana's cheeks brightened slightly and her eyes narrowed "I'm not having trouble seeing anything, it's convincing that woman that I'm actually seeing it! She has no idea what a real seer is."

Gaius nodded his head and Merlin could see Uther draining his wine glass, gritting his teeth. "Sibyl Trelawney is an interesting person. She comes from a long line of respectable seers, and she does show signs of having some talent in the art, though I have never seen it performed."

"Hmph, I can't believe she even got a job at that school, it's an embarrassment" Morgana fumed.

"Divination is a touchy subject, anyone who taught it would be unlikely to have true visions" Gaius consoled.

"I don't mind Trelawney" Arthur stated "she's better than some of the teachers". As he was saying this the dinning staff brought in the food and laid it out on the table in front of them, taking care to refill Uther's glass.

"No one's better than Lupin though" Merlin put in as he piled his plate full of food. The others, excluding Uther copied him as he went on to say "I don't think I've had a better class"

"He's got to be the best Defense teacher we've had—as long as he doesn't turn out to be some evil, crazy, maniac" Arthur agreed.

"He won't" Morgana assured.

"I guess you've _seen _this" Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Not really, but I think I would have by now if he was going to turn out evil" she shrugged.

"It's not like your visions are infallible" Arthur said.

"I didn't say they were, I'm just saying I would have seen _something_—"

"Can we _please_ change the subject!" Uther roared, slapping the table with his open hand. The other four people at the table turned to look at the man, his face slightly red though Merlin could not tell if it was from anger or too much alcohol.

He could see Morgana opening her mouth to say something back, something that would no doubt escalate the tension in the air, but she didn't have a chance before someone else cut in.

"Oh, and would a better subject be why no one thought to set a place for me?" asked a dark haired woman with ice blue, calculating eyes and too red lips sitting at the other end of the table "Or perhaps why I found two burly men outside leaning on dear Gaius's car as though waiting for someone with violent intentions?"

**Well, Christmas dinner is never dull with the Pendragons. I hope you enjoyed the small fluffy moment with Gaius and Merlin, I felt like I wasn't putting Gaius in the story enough, so that was for the Gaius fans. I hope you enjoyed it, and please keep reading **


	14. Chapter 14

**Last time:** _"Oh, and would a better subject be why no one thought to set a place for me?" asked a dark haired woman with ice blue, calculating eyes and too red lips sitting at the other end of the table "Or perhaps why I found two burly men outside leaning on dear Gaius's car as though waiting for someone with violent intentions?"_

"Nimueh" hissed Uther, his arms tensing on the armrests of his chair. The witch's eyes flashed a brilliant, molten gold and Merlin felt his body stiffen. Her lips twisted into a smirk as she watched the five people around the table struggle against her spell.

"It's no use" she gloated "you aren't getting past that spell"

Gaius's eyes narrowed at the witch, though he remained quiet.

"Something to say, Gaius?" Nimeuh asked innocently "I suppose it would be more amusing if you could all talk back"

With another golden flash of her eyes, Merlin felt the pressure that was keeping his body in place slacken around his head. Everyone turned to look at the woman, the other's also having had their heads released from the spell.

"What are you doing here Nimueh?" Gaius asked angrily.

Nimueh raised one of her eyebrows "Isn't that obvious?" she asked "I'm here to see my niece and nephews"

Three heads turned to look from Gaius to Uther and back to Nimueh "What?"

Nimueh raised a hand to her mouth pretending to be shocked as she looked at Uther "You didn't tell them?"

"Be quiet you witch" Uther roared, muscles straining against the invisible force keeping them all bound to their chairs.

"Now, now Uther, is that any way to talk to your latte wife's sister?" she asked staring at the man with clear hatred behind her eyes. The muggle sitting across the table from here gritted his teeth together in frustration but otherwise stayed quiet.

"You are Ygraine's sister?" Morgana asked the witch who was sprawled out in her chair catlike.

Nimueh's attention was diverted to the dark haired girl "Yes, Ygraine and I were sisters, we were always close… at least until she married this magic hating muggle"

Arthur looked from Uther to Nimueh asking almost as though he were looking for a way to disprove his father's hatred of magic "Why would they get married if he hated magic so much?"

"She was a squib, regrettable but there's not much that can be done about these things" Nimueh shrugged almost regretfully.

"Don't call her that!" Uther shouted his face red and a vein pulsing in his neck "The reason the two of you grew apart was because you always had to show off your unnatural abilities in front of her, gloating about what you could do and what she was always unable to"

"Don't blame her leaving on me you bastard!" Nimueh shot back bolting out of her chair to tower over all of the people around the table. "She was my sister and she was happy for me, everything was fine before you started whispering in her ear and turning her against me"

"I just gave her the courage to do what she had been wanting to do for years—to get away from you" Uther retorted.

"Oh yes, she wanted to be so far away from me when the two of you asked me to help you conceive a child" Nimueh said back calmly as she sat back down in her seat. Merlin looked to Uther whose face turned ashen as Gaius shut his eyes in shame, Arthur and Morgana looking just as confused as Merlin felt.

"What is she talking about… dad?" Arthur asked, trying to make the man explain, or even face him.

"Go on Uther, tell him what you did. Tell Arthur why he grew up without his mother"

"Why don't you just do it, Nimueh? Make me sound just as bad as you want to" Uther snapped.

"Why do that when I can make you own up to what you did?" Nimueh explained.

"Tell them Uther, there's no running from it now" Gaius said, head bowed in defeat, obviously knowing what the other man was about to say.

Uther shot a look over at Gaius before heaving a great sigh "I don't really have a choice now do I?

"Thirteen years ago, Arthur, your mother and I were desperate to have a child. We had been trying for years and finally we decided to consult a doctor. They ran a few tests to find that Ygraine was unable to conceive…"

"But how…?" Arthur said uncertainly.

"This is where I come in" Nimueh said in way of an explanation before nodding at Uther to continue.

"Your mother had of course told me about her sister, and when we heard that there was no hope… I suggested we use some… unconventional means to conceive. We called your aunt"

"And I was so happy to hear my sister's voice I rushed right over, not even considering they were going to ask me something so horrible" Nimueh added in.

Uther narrowed his eyes even more but he said nothing about the interruption. "She came over and we dined with her, and finally we asked her to give us a child"

"I refused immediately, I told them how dangerous doing such a spell could be, but they ignored my warnings and practically forced me to go through with it"

Uther looked away from Nimeuh but continued to talk "We did what we had to, to convince her to help Ygraine conceive. And she did it… but there was a cost…"

"To give a life, another must be taken…" Merlin whispered, but the room was so quiet everyone heard him, and they all turned to look at him.

Nimueh smirked at the boy "It seems you are not as clueless as I thought, apparently it's not just your magic that's been coming back"

"What are you talking about Nimueh?" Gaius asked angrily but she silenced him with a look.

"You'll find out, but right now, I think Uther wants to finish his story" Once again everyone's heads turned to look at Uther who was looking down at the table.

"As Merlin said, Ygraine's soul was exchanged for Arthur's when he was born. She just died, everything was going normally, she was completely healthy, but all of a sudden her body just shut down as though her soul had just left…"

"That's what happens when you bring a soul into this earth when it wasn't supposed to" Nimueh said, glaring at Uther with fire in her eyes "And then you had the gall to cheat on my sister and have a child with another woman!"

Uther averted his gaze, keeping his eyes away from the witch and from his children.

"You… you killed her?" Arthur asked, his voice broken and his eyes trained down on the table in front of him. "You're the reason she wasn't here…why I grew up without a mother?"

"He's the reason you're here at all, Arthur. They didn't know what price she would claim for your life" Gaius tried to explain.

"I didn't claim my sister's life! That was the price of the Old Religion!" Nimueh cried, jumping to her feet again to tower over the old physician.

"Old Religion?" Morgana questioned, looking up at the older witch with less fear and more curiosity, Merlin still trying to get out of his chair while Arthur continued to stare down at the table forlornly.

Nimueh looked over at Morgana with a small smile "Yes, the Old Religion. You should understand what I'm talking about, you can use it too"

"Shut up, Nimueh" Merlin said with more courage than he was feeling. Something was telling him that he did not want Nimueh teaching Morgana about the Old Religion.

Nimueh raised an eyebrow at Merlin "What's wrong Merlin? Don't want your cousin learning how to use her own magic against you"

"Cousin? She's my sister" Merlin said confused.

"She's your adopted sister, yes. But she also happens to be your cousin. You see, her mother, Vivienne had a sister named Hunith"

Morgana and Merlin's eyes locked and Gaius let out a groan "Anything else you want to tell these kids, Nimueh?"

Nimueh smiled at the old physician "Now that you mention it, though it's more of an announcement to everyone here, well most of you, I'm sure Uther won't really care"

Everyone looked up at the witch who had once again stood up from her seat, though this time she walked around the table, walking behind Morgana, Arthur, Uther, and Gaius before stopping right behind Merlin's chair. "The real reason I came to diner after so long"

"Get on with it!" Uther hissed, narrowing his eyes over Merlin's shoulder to where Nimueh was standing, Gaius also glaring while Morgana continued to look on with curiosity while Arthur was still sulking over the news he had just received.

Unable to move anything other than his head, Merlin was unable to see Nimueh, but he could feel her standing right behind him and he was trying even harder not to move out of his chair. A pale arm slowly came into his field of vision, tauntingly wrapping around him as she moved closer to his chair.

Slithering around the pale arm was a contrasting, lifelike black serpent, mouth open with its fangs ready to sink into her skin, its body ready to contract around her arm until her bones broke. Her dark hair came into his vision next, like a curtain separating him from the people in the chairs next to him as she leaned in to whisper in his ear.

"Like my friend, she has a mean bite when out master is angered by something I did. I'm sure if you asked politely, once my master is back, he'd be more than willing to give you a friend like mine"

Merlin jerked his head away from the witches "Get off of me!"

Arthur's head raised slightly from where he had been staring at the table, Morgana was pulling slightly against her bonds, Gaius glaring angrily.

Nimueh smirked before pulling away from Merlin, though she kept a hand on his arm "Merlin here is quite the special little wizard, and quite aptly named if I do say so myself"

Her hand trailed up Merlin's arm to rest on his shoulder, unnerving him to no end and making Arthur's head come all the way up from the table. He was staring furiously at the witch.

"He's so special that he was able to go up against the great Lord Voldemort and come out with his will intact, of course the Dark Lord was not at his full strength and Merlin had some help from Harry Potter"

"What are you getting at, Nimueh?" Gaius asked uneasily.

"What I'm saying is, little Merlin here has interested my master and I'm sure he'll be wanting to see the boy just as soon as he can" her hand found its way to Merlin's hair where she was slowly stroking the hair as he tried to shake her hand off.

"No way!" Arthur shouted coming out of his trance "Get away from him, you aren't taking him anywhere"

Merlin could hear the smile in her voice, even though he could not see it as she answered the boy "Are you going to stop me, Arthur?"

"Shut up and get away from him!" Arthur responded, visibly trying to free himself from her magical bonds, Morgana struggling as well.

Merlin felt her grip on his hair tighten as he tried to struggle out of her grip "Stop fighting, none of you are in much of a position to fight against my spell, and none of you are strong enough to go against me, and I hope you aren't forgetting your fragile, muggle father Arthur"

"Get away from Merlin" he responded and Nimueh's grasp tightened again, though this time out of frustration due to Arthur.

"Don't worry so much Arthur" Nimueh said, taking her hand away from Merlin's head, much to his relief "I'm not taking him yet, not until my master is ready"

Her eyes flashed gold and they all felt as her spell let them go "So until then, I'll leave you alone to think about all of the other things you found out today, and I hope you all have a good Christmas"

With a final smirk, the witch's eyes flashed again and a whirlwind encompassed her body before she vanished from the room leaving the others by themselves.

Arthur and Morgana had both jumped up as soon as Nimueh had released them, but they had been unable to reach her before she had fled the room. Wearily, Morgana fell back down into her chair, while Merlin had not even made to move out of his.

"Arthur…?" Gaius asked wearily as the boy stood in the center of the room, looking down at his shoes.

"I can't believe this" Arthur shook his head "Nimueh… Merlin…. Mom…." Arthur whirled around to face Uther "and you!"

"Arthur, not now" Uther shook his own head wearily.

"No, you killed my mother and if what Nimueh said was true, you had a trap planned for Merlin and Gaius!" Arthur shouted before looking back down at the floor "and you planned the last time Merlin was jumped didn't you?"

Arthur did not wait for his father to answer before he said quietly "I'm leaving, I'm not staying here anymore" he turned to look at Gaius "would you mind if I came with you?"

Gaius nodded his head "Of course"

"I'm not staying here by myself" Morgana said standing back up "Gaius?" he nodded his head and she smiled gratefully before running up the stairs to her room to pack her bags.

"C'mon Merlin" Arthur said walking behind Morgana "you can help me pack"

"Arthur, get back here!" Uther said, but his voice sounded weak and he was still sitting in his seat. Merlin stood and followed Arthur into his room where he found the boy sitting on his bed, his head in his hands.

"Arthur?" Merlin asked timidly.

"I don't know how I didn't see it earlier. He's always hated magic—hated what I am, always hated you" Arthur said sadly.

"He's always loved you Arthur, he just has a hard time showing emotion" Merlin tried to console the other boy.

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean he's a good person, or that he ever was. He tried to kill you didn't he? It was him?" Merlin nodded his head slowly and Arthur snorted "and you couldn't even trust me enough to tell me"

"I didn't want you to know because I didn't want you to…"

"To see who my dad really was?" Merlin nodded again.

"I know you meant well Merlin, but I needed to know. I'm sorry I was on his side for so long, but you should know I never would have knowingly let him hurt you, and I won't let Nimueh get close to you again"

Merlin smiled at his brother "Thanks"

Arthur smiled back "Could I ask you a favor before we leave, could you shrink my sword down so I can keep it close?"

He rifled under his bed before pulling out the sword he had gotten from the clearing the year before. Arthur held the sword out before Merlin, waiting expectantly.

Merlin nodded and let his eyes flash gold and watched as the sword shrunk down to the size of a charm you could hang on a necklace. Pulling out a siver chain, Arthur did just that before tucking the sword under his shirt.

"Thanks Merlin, I'm ready to go home now" the two brothers shared a sad smile before walking out of the room, Arthur carrying his things as they met Morgana and walked down the stairs to meet Gaius who led them outside leaving Uther to watch them hopelessly.

"Looks like she was telling the truth" Arthur noticed as they saw the unconscious figure of two burly men lying under a large bush. Ignoring the two sleeping figures, the three siblings piled into Gaius's car and the four of them left, leaving Uther behind.

**Well there you guys go, hope you liked it, please review so I know if you like where this story is going. **


	15. Chapter 15

The rest of Merlin's holiday break was quiet, very quiet. Arthur was taking his father's betrayal hard and was having trouble adjusting to living with Gaius. Morgana spent most of her time sending owls to Morgause, likely telling her every detail about the diner.

The start of term could not come soon enough in Merlin's opinion, and when it did he was beyond relieved. They arrived back at the castle the day before classes started and they spent all of it talking about their friend's holidays, trying fruitlessly to forget their own.

When Gwaine asked Merlin how his break had went, Merlin tried to cover his answer up with vague descriptions of a perfect holiday. Gwaine saw right through it.

"What really happened?" the boy asked soberly as he looked down at his friend.

"…Nimueh showed up…"

"What?" cried all of the knights who were sitting nearby, causing students and teachers to look over at the two as Merlin tried to calm them down. Arthur sighed at Merlin's poor attempts and told the whole story, including Nimueh's threat against Merlin.

"You really don't know how to have a quiet Christmas, do you Arthur?" Gwaine asked with less humor than he usually had.

"Guess not" the blonde replied somberly.

Classes started the next day and things quickly went back to normal. Care of Magical Creatures was first on their schedule and no one was looking forward to an outside class held on a cold January morning. Hagrid however had anticipated this and prepared a large bonfire full of fire-loving salamanders.

Divination was next, and Professor Trelawney decided it was time to turn to palmistry. Morgana of course picked it up quickly, predicting things that would happen within the week to within the year. Professor Trelawney, in her usual way, criticized her until Morgana had to be held back from jumping out of her seat to strangle the eccentric Divination teacher.

"What does she mean we're going to have a boring year, it's already been far too exciting! That dumb witch, I can clearly see our year is only going to get worse, ugh!"

Defense Against the Dark Arts was next, and Professor Lupin had them jumping into a new lesson about another strange dark creature. By far Lupin was the best Defense teacher the third year students had had sense attending Hogwarts, but Merlin could hardly help but wonder why Snape seemed to think so little of the man.

It was common knowledge throughout the school of course that Snape was after the Defense position, but that could not be enough for his hatred of the new professor. On the day that Professor Lupin had been missing, Snape had said that they were behind in their studies, however it looked to Merlin like they were on track. Even had they had a normal teacher the first two years, they would not have been through the entire third year textbook by that time of the year.

As Merlin watched Lupin give his lecture on their newest study interest, he could not help but wonder if there was an ulterior motive for Snape to assign that essay.

Too hung up in his musings, Merlin did not notice how close it was to time for the end of class and was caught off guard when the bell rang for them to leave.

"I'll catch up, you go on" he told Arthur and Gwaine as he hurried to pile his books into his bag. Both of his friends shook their heads with amused grins before leaving him to gather his things as the rest of the class filed out, or at least most of the class.

Merlin paused as he stood to leave the classroom, just noticing Harry walking up to Professor Lupin who was looking down at the homework they had turned in a few moments earlier.

"Professor?" he asked lightly making Lupin look up from the paper, which if his expression was anything to go by, was not going to make a passing grade.

"Harry?" he said pleasantly, smiling for the boy to go on.

"About the lessons you promised me…." He trailed off and Lupin nodded knowingly.

"Ah yes. Let me see… how about eight o'clock on Thursday evening? The History of Magic classroom should be large enough…. I'll have to think carefully about how we're going to do this…. We can't bring a real dementor into the castle to practice on…"

Merlin left the room quickly, not sure if the two would be angry that he had overheard their conversation.

"What in the world would they need a dementor for?" Gwaine asked before biting into a green apple as he lounged on one of the couches in the Gryffindor common room.

"They said they weren't going to use a real one though, right?" Arthur asked looking at Merlin who nodded "Maybe it's a prank"

"Nasty prank" Gwaine shuddered "Those things are horrible… wish I had thought of it"

Arthur and Merlin both rolled their eyes at the other boy before Merlin turned to Arthur "But what do you think they're planning"

"It can't be anything to bad can it?" Arthur asked like it was obvious "Lupin is a teacher after all. Don't go poking your nose in this Merlin, it could only backfire on you"

The next night the whole school filed into the Quidditch pitch to watch the Knights take on Slytherin House, including Dumbledore, and Merlin thought he saw the overly large glasses of Professor Trelawney on the highest set of seats.

Arthur walked out onto the field with his players in a line behind him, his face set in determination at odds with the cocky smiles being worn by the Slytherins. The two captains shook hands, and Madam Hooch blew the whistle sending the teams into the air.

Percival and Gwaine were kept busy as the Slytherin beaters shot the two bludgers continuously at the three chasers and a few times even at Arthur just as their team shot the quaffle. Morgana, Lance and Leon all had a hard time diving away from Slytherin chasers whose tactic was diving at them to make them drop the quaffle.

Malfoy on the other hand, took to trailing Elyan, trying to stay close so he could use his better broom to outpace the Knight's seeker when he found the snitch.

These underhanded tactics however, were not enough to stop the knights. Thirty minutes into the game and the score stood at thirty to zero in the knight's favor which Lee Jordan continued to announce with no little enthusiasm.

"And with that excellent shot from Morgana Pendragon, the score goes up to Knights, forty and Slytherin zero!"

The crowd was cheering madly, all except for the silver and green section which was shouting and jeering at their team to pick up the pace and beat the other team.

"Nice block from Arthur, and Gwaine Belby sends the bludger right back at the Slytherin's… oh, so close—"

"Jordan" Professor McGonagall warned halfheartedly and Merlin could hear the smile in Jordan's voice.

"It looks like Elyan has seen something, and it looks like Malfoy has noticed Elyan has seen something. Malfoy is following Elyan, gaining ground on his daddy's broom—"

"Jordan" growled McGonagall

"It's true Professor, everyone knows it" Jordan insisted "and Elyan is trying to outpace him, but—hey!"

A bludger shot straight at Elyan had the boy tipping downwards to avoid getting it straight in the face, giving Malfoy just enough head to flash past the other boy and reach out to grab the snitch.

"And by some not so honorable tactics-"

"Jordan" McGonagall said again, though she sounded angry, it did not sound directed at the announcer which Merlin could completely understand.

"I take nothing back" Jordan promised his listeners "Malfoy caught the snitch, and Slytherin wins, one sixty to forty"

Merlin walked into the locker rooms knowing the team would be in a bad mood but also knowing he would have to face them some time. He found chairs and benches knocked over, Quidditch robes strewn across the floor, bottles of water dripping what was left of them into the floor and a very angry Arthur standing in the middle of it.

"That was a cheap shot at Elyan, and if Malfoy didn't have that…. Ugh" Arthur grunted as he rammed his fist into a locker.

"We'll get 'em next time mate" Gwaine said comfortingly, putting a hand on the blonde's shoulder.

"We should've had this time" Arthur sighed.

"They shouldn't have played the way they did" Lance countered, as he came over to help Gwaine guide Arthur to a seat now that he had stopped throwing things.

"Look Arthur, it's just a game. You shouldn't take it so personally" Morgana tried, but Arthur still looked upset.

"You played well, Arthur. All of you did" Merlin said, moving over to his brother "but you can't win them all… but you also can't stoop to their level"

Arthur looked up at his brother's face sharply, surprise etched into his eyes "How'd you know I was thinking that"

"You're not that good at hiding your thoughts" Merlin shrugged "But you can't do that Arthur. You have to show them that you can win honorably"

"Besides" Gwaine said from where he was leaning against an overturned bench "as soon as you start saying we have to use those underhanded tricks, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not playing for a team that does that"

Arthur looked around at his friends, all of whom were nodding with Gwaine's comment and he smiled "We'll beat them next time"

Merlin of course, did not take Arthur's advice about leaving the dementor situation alone. Thursday evening just after eight o'clock found Merlin standing just outside of the History of Magic classroom. Merlin was kneeling just under the door, trying to listen to the two inside and find out what they were up to.

"EXPECTO PETRONUM!" he heard Harry yell, and for a few minutes everything was quiet before Professor Lupin started speaking.

"Excellent!" he heard footsteps and he imagined Lupin was walking across the room to where Harry must be, his voice getting closer to where Harry's had come from "Excellent, Harry! That was definitely a start!"

"Can we have one more go?"

"Not now," Lupin said firmly. "You've had enough for one night. Here— Eat the lot, or Madam Pomfrey will be after my blood. Same time next week?"

"Okay" Harry said without hesitation. He did however hesitate before asking "Professor Lupin, if you knew my dad, you must've known Sirius Black as well."

_Black?_

"What gives you that idea?" Lupin asked quickly, almost defensively."

"Nothing—I mean, I just knew they were friends at Hogwarts too…"

"Yes, I knew him," Lupin sighed "Or I thought I did. You'd better be off, Harry, it's getting late"

Before Harry could leave the room, Merlin rushed into the closet door, hiding before the Lupin or Harry could catch him spying. Making sure both had gone, Merlin creped out of his hiding spot, and slowly made his way back to the common room, deciding it would be best not to tell Arthur just yet that he had been spying on a potential friend of Sirius Black's.

The next week, Merlin was sitting with Gwaine and Arthur in the common room, going over their latest potion's homework when the portrait hole opened and everyone started gathering around it, cutting off what Neville had just been saying about losing his list of passwords for the week.

"Where'd you get it, Harry?"

"Will you let me have a go?"

The three friends turned their heads to see Harry coming into the dormitory, a Firebolt—currently the fastest broomstick available—held on his shoulder.

"And we were having trouble against a Nimbus two thousand and one, just great" Arthur rolled his eyes and dropped his head forlornly onto the table as Gwaine ogled the broom in the dark haired boy's arms. Merlin was also watching the boy, though less out of amazement that he had the broom, and more out of wonderment of how he had gotten it.

After he allowed the occupants of the room to pass around his Firebolt, the noise settled back into a more calm background noise rather than a roar. Finally having got back to his essay, Merlin was once again distracted as an ear piercing scream echoed down from the boy's dormitory.

The room went deadly silent, as Ron ran down the staircase, a sheet held in his hands, and just visible between them, red blood stains.

"LOOK!" he yelled, making his way to Harry and Hermione "LOOK!"

"Ron, what?" Hermione asked but he cut her off.

"SCABBERS! LOOK! SCABBERS!"

Hermione leaned away from the boy confusedly as Harry leaned in to examine the sheets "BLOOD!" Ron screamed "HE'S GONE! AND YOU KNOW WHAT WAS ON THE FLOOR?"

"N—no" Hermione said in a small, trembling voice.

He threw his sheets down on top of her homework, and though Merlin could not see it from where he was sitting, by the looks of Hermione's paling face, he was sure it was something that proved Crookshanks—Hermione's cat—was the culprit.

**Sorry it's been a little while. Hope you liked this chapter, it wasn't very exciting but they can't all be I guess. Please keep reading!**


	16. Chapter 16

After Ron's outburst, his and Hermione's friendship took a bit of a turn for the worse and the two were hardly speaking at all. Hermione was hardly seen in the common room, and when she was she was alone surrounded by tons of books and an air that clearly said she did not want to be disturbed.

Feeling bad for his possibly ruined friendship, Merlin decided he would stop trailing after Harry to try and find out what he was doing with Lupin. Arthur was likely right after all, Lupin was a teacher, and just because he knew Sirius Black, that was back when he was a boy, and before the man had turned into a killer.

Arthur had taken to talking nonstop about the upcoming Quidditch match between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, something about one of them winning would be better for them, but either way they could still have a chance of winning the cup.

"Yeah Arthur, we get it. Don't worry so much, we'll get the cup this year, no doubt" Elyan sighed as Arthur called another hour of practice even though they had already stayed on the pitch an hour longer than they had intended already.

"Well, no harm in making sure now is there, Elyan?" Arthur said sternly "You need to work on your feints a bit more I think. Gwaine and Percival, take turns shooting and blocking, make sure nothing gets past you next game. Morgana, I know you can fly faster than that!"

"I think he's going to burn them out if he's not careful" Gwen said sitting next to Merlin, Freya and Mordred on his other side.

"They can take it" Mordred said "they want to win as much as him, and Elyan wants to prove himself against Malfoy"

"Arthur knows what he's doing, he's a born leader" Freya agreed.

"He's a born prat" Merlin said and they all laughed, nodding in agreement.

"Merlin!" Arthur called down from where he was hovering over the four friends "I think we could use an extra set of bludgers, go get them would you?"

With an annoyed sigh, Merlin went to get the extra practice bludgers.

The match came quick enough in Merlin's opinion as he found himself sat between Percy and Lance on the seats over the Quidditch pitch as Gryffindor's and Ravenclaw's teams walked out onto the field.

Merlin watched as they kicked off into the air and Lee Jordan started his cementation

"They're off, and the big excitement this match is the Firebolt that Harry Potter is flying for Gryffindor. According to _Which Broomstick_, the Firebolt's going to be the broom of choice for the national teams at this year's World Championship—"

"Jordan, would you mind telling us what's going on in the match?" interrupted Professor McGonagall.

"Right you are, Professor—just giving a bit of background information—the Firebolt, incidentally, has a built-in-auto-brake and—"

"Jordan!"

"Okay, okay, Gryffindor in possession, Katie Bell of Gryffindor heading for goal…" The chasers flew by and the beaters hit the bludgers across the field as the seekers circled the sky.

"Gryffindor leads by eighty points to zero, and look at that Firebolt go! Potter's really putting it through its paces now, see it turn—Chang's comet is ust no match for it, the firebotl's precision-balance is really noticeable in these long—"

"JORDAN! ARE YOU BEING PAID TO ADVERISE FIREBOLTS? GET ON WITH THE COMMENTARY!"

Harry was accelerating toward the Gryffindor goalpost but Merlin watched as Cho Chang stopped right in front of him, making him pull up and lose the snitch. Harry pulled away from the girl and she kept on him, deciding it would be easier to tail him rather than the snitch.

He lured her into a dive, swinging out of it faster than her Comet was able to, only to begin accelerating again as he must have seen a glitter of gold.

"Not good" Percival whispered and Merlin looked down below Harry. Three, black hooded creatures were flying just under the boy, and it seemed he had just noticed.

He did not faint this time, he did not even stop. Instead, the boy pulled out his wand and aimed it at the three, black hooded creatures and yelled "EXPECTO PARTRONUM!"

Something silver-white shot out of the end of Harry's wand straight at the three figures, and startled in a very human way, three boys fell to the ground, brooms and black cloaks falling away to reveal a sad trick that had not worked. Back in the air, Harry was holding his hand in the air triumphantly, the gold body of the snitch held firmly in his hand and the stands erupted in applause.

Merlin and the knights watched from the stands as the Gryffindor team was surrounded by cheering classmates and teachers and McGonagall stood over the four Slytherins who had tried to scare Harry off of his broom.

"An unworthy trick!" she shouted "A low and cowardly attempt to sabotage the Gryffindor Seeker! Detention for all of you, and fifty pints from Slytherin! I shall be speaking to Professor Dumbledore about this, make no mistake! Ah, there he comes now!"

Just as she had said, Dumbledore was walking across the field, straight toward the four Slytherins and he did not look pleased.

"If I know Fred and George, there's going to be a party" he looked down at the Slytherins with fake concern "besides, I doubt we'll want to see what happens to _them_".

Just as Gwaine had predicted, the Gryffindor Common Room was acting as though they had already won the Quidditch Cup. For a few minutes, Merlin lost sight of Gwaine only for him to reappear a few minutes later with Fred and George, all three loaded down with arm loads of food.

"Where did you get all of that?" Merlin asked as Gwaine munched happily on a green apple.

"A bowl of fruit" he grinned.

"Not the apple" Arthur rolled his eyes at the boy whose eyes were alight with mischievousness "all of this food"

"Like I said Arthur; besides, a magician never reveals his secrets" Gwaine gave both boys a wink before walking away into the crowd of Gryffindors.

The party went on into the night and only ended then because of an irate Professor McGonagall showing up in her tartan dressing gown and hair net insisting they all go to bed.

Following a pouting Gwaine and other equally upset Gryffidor's, Merlin walked up the winding staircase to the third year's dormitory. A few of the others were still chatting happily about the day's match. Too tired to pull back the hangings of his four poster bed, Merlin fell quickly into a deep slumber.

Merlin's boots dug lightly into the sandy soil of the winding path as he crested the hill he had been walking up for his first view of the city he had been waiting to see for days. His legs, slightly longer than he felt normal, almost too long for him to keep his balance while walking, seemed unfamiliar yet normal at the same time. Blinding in the sunlight, tall towers of white stone struck the sky and he could feel it calling out to him.

Sandy soil to a hard baked clay and then to a cobblestoned courtyard, Merlin walked into a crowd of people all standing around waiting impatiently for something to start.

"Let this serve as a lesson to all. This man, Thomas James Collins, is judged guilty of conspiring to use enchantments and magic. And, pursuant to the laws of Camelot, I, Uther Pendragon, have decreed that such practices are banned on penalty of death. I pride myself as a fair and just king, but for the crime of sorcery, there is but one sentence I can pass."

Looking up to the same castle he had seen from the hill, he found a man standing on a balcony dressed as a medieval noble man, his face—his familiar face—contorted into an expression of distaste. Uther Pendragon let his hand fall and immediately after there was the swing of an axe heading straight for the head of a petrified looking man kneeling on a platform in the middle of the courtyard—

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Merlin shot up in his bed, his eyes trying to make out shadows from figures in the small light coming from the moon shinning into the windows. Across the room, someone was standing over one of the beds, too tall to be one of the occupants of the room, in his raised hand, a knife reflecting the same light that allowed Merlin to pick him out from the shadows.

Ron's scream apparently was enough to make the man decide to retreat, and just as he was turning to flee from the room, Merlin saw enough of his face to make out who the man was. Sirius Black.

"What's going on?" Gwaine cried leaping out of his bed, instantly alert. Arthur too was standing fully alert beside his own four poster, every head in the room turning to watch the man run out of the room.

Ron was sitting up in bed, the hangings torn form one side, a look of utmost terror on his face.

"Black! Sirius Black! With a Knife!"

"_What?"_

"Here! Just now! Slashed the curtains! Woke me up!"

"You sure you weren't dreaming, Ron?" sadi Dean.

"Look at the curtains! I tell you, he was here!"

As one, the boys all rushed out of the dormitory and down the winding staircase, people sticking their heads out of their rooms as they stormed by.

"Who shouted?"

"What're you doing?"

The common room was lit by the light of a dying fire when the boys reached the bottom, completely deserted.

"Are you _sure_ you weren't dreaming, Ron?"

"I'm telling you, I saw him!"

"What's all the noise?"

"Professor McGonagall told us to go to bed!"

A few more students walked down into the common room, yawns passing around them as they woke up after just having gone to bed.

"Excellent, are we carrying on?" asked Fred Weasley as though he had been up the whole time.

"Everyone back upstairs!" Percy Weasley called out as he pushed his way to the center of the common room, pinning his Head Boy badge to his pajamas.

"Perce—Sirius Black!" said Ron faintly. "In our dormitory! With a knife! Woke me up!"

The whole room went still and silent.

"Nonsense!" said Percy, looking startled. "You had too much to eat, Ron—had a mightmare—"

"I'm telling you—"

"Now, really, enough's enough!" said Professor McGonagall slamming the portrait hole behind her, starring around her furiously.

"I am delighted that Gryffindor won the match, but this is getting ridiculous! Percy, I expected better of you!"

"I certainly didn't authorize this, Professor!" Percy said puffing himself up indignantly. "I was just telling them all to get back to bed! My brother Ron here had a nightmare—"

"IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE!" Ron yelled. "PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP AND SIRIUS BLACK WAS STANDING OVER ME, HOLDING A KNIFE!"

Professor McGonagall stood starring at Ron a moment before regaining her composure enough to say "Don't be ridiculous, Weasley, how could he possibly have gotten through the portrait hole?"

"It's true, Professor, I saw him too" Merlin said making the whole room look at him for a moment before looking back at Ron.

"You see, and if you still don't believe us" he pointed his finger to the back of Sir Cadogan's portrait "Ask him!"

With a suspicious glance back at Merlin and Ron, Professor McGonagall stepped back into the hall to talk to the portrait of the eccentric knight.

"Sir Cadogan, did you just let a man enter Gryffindor Tower?"

"Certainly, good lady!" cried the portrait.

Merlin was torn between being happy for being proven right and annoyed at the stupid painting. The room went silent, everyone's breath held as they waited for Professor McGonagall to say something. He noticed that Arthur and Gwaine moved closer to him, whether for their own protection or his… knowing them, it was for his.

"You—you _did?_" said Professor McGonagall. "But—but the password!"

"He had 'em!" said Sir Cadogan proudly. "Had the whole week's, my lady! Read 'em off a little piece of paper!"

Professor McGonagall pulled herself back through the portrait hole to face the stunned crowd. She was white as chalk.

"Wheich person," she said, her voice shaking, "which abysmally foolish person wrote down this week's passwords and left them lying around?"

There was utter silence, broken by the smallest of terrified squeaks. Neville Longbottom, trembling from head to fluffy-slippered toes, raised his hand slowly into the air. If McGonagall's look of pure anger had not been enough to have Neville shaking, then the looks he was getting from Arthur and Gwaine would have done the job.

**Not as long as some of the other chapters, but it was a good place to leave off. I hope you enjoyed, and hopefully you enjoyed the reference to a later Harry Potter book, and no, Merlin is not going to regain his memories in his book, that was just a teaser. Please keep reading, and as always, please keep reviewing!**


	17. Chapter 17

The rest of the night, the whole of the Gryffindor House stayed in the common room waiting for the teachers to finish searching the castle, for a second time. Hours later, early in the morning, Professor McGonagall returned to inform the students that the man had escaped, yet again.

Throughout the rest of the day, the castle underwent a tightening of security that the teachers did not even try to conceal. Flitwick was enchanting the doors to the castle to recognize Black and Filch was boarding up any holes and crevices he could find throughout the castle.

Brave, Sir Cadogan was fired from his new post and returned to the seventh floor while the Fat Lady was replaced in her usual spot. Still frightened for her life, she only returned with the promise for her own personal safety which was given to her in the form of large, smelly, security trolls who patrolled her hallway.

Ron, however, was easily coming out of his shock to find that he had entered a light of popularity amongst the students in the castle. Groups of people, more often than a group of giggling, awed girls, would stop him in the hallways begging him to retell his story which got more and more outrageous each time.

"Seems he's enjoying all this attention doesn't it?" Gwaine commented as he watched Ron tell a group of first years what happened, waving his hands around dramatically.

Merlin looked over at the red head "He usually doesn't get this much attention though, does he? It can be nice to be recognized sometimes"

Arthur snorted "Says the kid who had the second largest target on his back after the boy-who-lived in you-know-who's book"

"I didn't say I wanted to be recognized like that, just that Ron doesn't get all that much attention" Merlin defended.

"Well give him some of the attention you keep attracting" Gwaine suggested "I'm surprised that murder didn't happen upon you instead—that would be your luck"

"Tell me about it" Merlin rolled his eyes, then paused a moment "It's weird though, I wonder why he didn't come to me first"

It was Arthur's turn to roll your eyes "I thought you said you didn't ask for all of that kind of attention.

Merlin shook his head "That's not what I mean. He went to Ron's bed, but my curtains weren't drawn, and if you just look at the top of our heads, especially in a dark room, it would have been possible for him to mistake me for Harry. But instead, he went to Ron's bed, even though his curtains were drawn, he shouldn't have any reason to think that was Harry's bed"

"What are you saying?" Gwaine asked, looking interested.

"You think he meant to go after Ron?" Arthur asked and Merlin shrugged his shoulders. Black's actions from the night before suggested that he had meant to go for Ron, but everything anyone knew about Black said that he should be after Harry.

"I don't know" he admitted.

Neville had gotten the worst of it. Professor McGonagall banned him from all future Hogsmeade visits, given him a detention, and forbidden anyone to give him the password to the tower. He was being forced to wait outside every night until someone came by to let him into the Gryffindor Tower while the security trolls watched him uneasily. The worst of these punishments however, paled in comparison to the howler his Gran sent him two days later.

Even with the excitement of Black breaking into the castle and scaring Ron into popularity, it seemed that his and Hermione's relationship was ruined. She was spending even less time in the common room now, if that was even possible.

"Hogesmeade trip next weekend" George Weasley said happily as the twins walked past Gwaine, Arthur, and Merlin.

"Great, I've been wanting to get back to Zonko's" he said cheerfully.

Merlin glumly sat back in his seat "I hope you have fun"

"You think Snape's really not going to let you go?" Gwaine asked a little more soberly.

"He went to Dumbledore and everything. There's no way they're going to let me leave the castle without Gaius coming to escort back home himself" Merlin said.

"It's probably a good thing. Nimueh did manage to crash our Christmas diner" Merlin looked over at Arthur, surprised he actually mentioned that night "It could hardly be any problem for her to walk into a crowded street with a disguise or something"

"I wouldn't worry about it" Merlin replied dissmissevly "she said she was going to leave me alone until her master came back and there's been no reports about you-know-who in years."

"You faced him last year mate" Gwaine reminded him with a raised eyebrow.

"His past self" Merlin said as though that made it better.

"What about the year before that?" Arthur asked wearing the same expression as Gwaine "he can clearly come back if he has someone willing to share some head room"

"All right, all right. It's not like I could go out anyway, no need to rub all of this in" he said angrily before storming away from his two friends who were laughing halfheartedly at his reaction.

Saturday morning, after breakfast, Merlin waved to his friends as they walked towards Hogesmeade leaving him and Mordred to walk back to the common room.

"Hey Mordred" the younger boy looked back at Merlin who had his hand on his chest with a confused expression "I think I left my bag in the Great Hall"

"Want me to come with you?" the boy asked as Merlin turned back toward the Great Hall.

"That's okay, I can get it. I'll catch up in a bit" he said waving his hand over his head as he walked away.

"Alright" he heard the boy call back before walking off toward the Gryffindor tower. He still made Merlin uneasy, but it was becoming easier to ignore. On days like today when he was the one of the only third years in the castle, it was nice to have someone else that had to stay in the castle.

He turned a corner to see Harry Potter, one of the other few third years who had to stay at the castle during a Hogesmeade weekend, throwing something behind a statue just as Neville turned the corner.

"Harry! I forgot you weren't going to Hogsmeade either!" Neivlle said brightly before noticing Merlin "Merlin, you too?"

"Hi, Neville," Harry said and Merlin smiled in way of a greeting while Harry gave him a curious look, probably wondering if Merlin had saw him throwing his bag behind the statue. "What are you two up to?"

"Nothing," shrugged Neville. "Want a game of Exploding Snap?"

"Er—not now—" Harry said fastly, obviously trying to get out of playing the game with Neville "I was going to go to the library and do that vampire essay for Lupin—"

"I'll come with you!" Neville said cheerfully and Merlin wanted to pat the boy on the back, he really did not see Harry was trying to get away from him. "I haven't done it either"

"Er—hang on—yeah, I forgot, I finished it last night!"

_If he didn't see that one…_ Merlin though just as Neville replied "Great, you can help me! I don't understand that thing about the garlic at all—do they have to eat it, or—"

Neville broke off, looking over Harry's and Merlin's shoulders as someone walked into the hallway.

Snape walked up to the boys, Neville stepping bravely behind the other two as he spoke "And what are you three doing here?" he looked between them "An odd place to meet—"

"Well you know," Merlin shrugged at the Professor "such a large castle with so few people in it on a Hogesmeade weekend, chances of the only Gryffindor third years not going to town meeting in a random corridor next to an ugly statue are pretty high"

Snape's eyes went instantly to the stature of a one-eyed witch with a hunch back and Harry looked like he was going to kill Merlin at any second. _Okay, there is something important about the statue…_

"We're not—meeting here," said Harry. "We just—met here"

"Indeed?" he drawled, still looking at the with statue "You have a habit of turning up in unexpected places, Potter, and you are very rarely there for no good reason, especially with Mr. Pendragon here involved—"

"—hey!" Merlin protested but Snape went on as though he had not spoken.

"I suggest you three return to Gryffindor Tower, where you belong."

The three boys walked off then, leaving the Professor studying the statue. Harry was rigid, obviously trying to think of a way to ditch Merlin and Neville. Feeling bad about tipping Snape to the statue, Merlin decided to help Harry out.

"Hey Neville, you said you hadn't finished that essay right?" Merlin asked.

Neville nodded his head "yeah, I need some help with the garlic thing"

"Great, we can go look it up… except my bag is still down in the Great Hall. That's where I was going earlier, if you don't mind a quick detour, we can go it and then head to the library?"

"Sure" Neville said happily, then turned to look at Harry "Want to come Harry?"

"Er, I—" Harry trailed off.

"You said you finished it right?" Merlin asked "You don't have to help us if you have other assignments you have to get done…."

Harry raised his eyebrows in surprised when he saw what Merlin was doing, but he played along "Yeah, actually I have a chart I need to do for…. Divination. I might catch up with you after I finish though"

Merlin smiled as the boy rushed off back toward the witch statue, whatever it was, it must be important enough to keep secret. With a shrug, he walked back down to the Great Hall with Neville almost forgetting that he should go tell Mordred that he was going to finish his essay with Neville.

Yawning, Merlin was making his way back to the Gryffindor common room having just finished his essay. Neville stayed behind having found a book on Herbology or something. Curious about the statue Harry and Snape had seemed so interested in before, Merlin decided to walk by it again only to come into the hallway just as Harry pulled himself out of a crevice hidden by the witches hump.

"Er…. Harry?" he asked just as Snape rounded the other corner of the hallway, lips turned up in a triumphant smile as he stalked over to tower above Harry who tried to look innocent and Merlin who was not trying to look as confused as he felt.

"So," he said.

"Come with me, Potter, Pendragon." Snape said and lead them downstairs to the dungeons where his office was. His office was designed to give visitors a warm greeting when they came down, one that screamed 'turn and run or I'll put you in one of these jars'.

"Sit" he ordered and both sat.

"Mr. Malfoy has just been to see me with a strange story, Potter," said Snape and Harry did not reply.

"He tells me that he was up by the Shrieking Shack when he ran into Weasley—apparently alone."

Harry stayed quiet and Merlin watched his face. It looked mildly curious and mildly scared to death.

" Mr. Malfoy states that he was standing talking to Weasley, when a large amount of mud hit him in the back of the head. How do you think that could have happened?"

"I don't know, Professor" Harry replied and Snape turned to Merlin. Merlin shrugged at the Professor, but an idea did come to mind, Harry's invisibility cloak.

"Mr. Malfoy then saw an extraordinary apparition. Can you imagine what it might have been, Potter?"

"No" Harry replied.

"It was your head, Potter. Floating in midair."

"I always thought Malfoy had an obsession for you Harry, but this, really?" Merlin asked trying to lighten the mood. Harry smiled appreciatively while Snape glared before looking back to Harry for his answer.

"Maybe he'd better go to Madam Pomfrey," Harry suggested. "If he's seeing things like—"

"What would your head have been doing in Hogsmeade, Potter?" Snape asked. "Your head is not allowed in Hogsmeade. No part of your body—either of your bodies—has permission to be in Hogsmeade."

"I know that," said Harry "It sounds like Malfoy's having hallucin—"

"Malfoy is not having hallucinations," snareld Snape, and he bend down a hand on each arm of Harry's chair, so that their faces were a foot apart. "If your head was in Hogsmeade, so was the rest of you, and likely the rest of Mr. Pendragon here"

"I've been up in Gryffindor Tower," said Harry "Like you told—"

"Can anyone confirm that?" Snape asked and looked to Merlin just as he was opening his mouth to do just that "Someone other than you"

Both were quiet and Snape nodded grimly.

"So," he said walking a few steps back from the two boys. "Everyone from the Minister of Magic downward has been trying to keep famous Harry Potter safe from Sirius Black. But famous Harry Potter is a law unto himself. Let the ordinary people worry about his safety! And who cares who else he drags along into danger? Famous Harry Potter goes where he wants to, with no though for the consequences."

Harry and Merlin both stayed quiet.

"How extraordinarily like your father you are, Potter," Snape said suddenly, his eyes glistening. "He too was exceedingly arrogant. A small amount of talent on the Quidditch field made him think he was a cut about the rest of us too. Strutting around the place with his friends and admirers… The resemblance between you is uncanny."

Merlin really wanted out of the tiny office now. He had always seen Snape had a problem with Harry, and he had a bad feeling he was about to find out why, first hand.

"My dad didn't _strut_" said Harry angrily. "And neither do I."

"Your father didn't set much store by the rules either," Snape went on, and Merlin was sure both of the two had forgotten he was in the room. "Rules were for lessr mortals, not Quidditch Cup-winners. His head was so swollen—"

"SHUT UP!" Harry yelled.

Merlin tried to sink down into his seat, to melt away from this argument, but sadly he stayed right where he was, in the middle of a very personal fight.

Harry was on his feet now and Snape's eyes were glistening with malice "_What did you just say to me Potter?"_

"I told you to shut up about my dad!" Harry yelled. "I know the truth, all right? He saved your life! Dumbledore told me! You wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for my dad!"

Snape visibly paled and Merlin wanted nothing more than to cover his ears.

"And did the headmaster tell you the circumstances in which your father saved my life?" he whispered. "Or did he consider the details too unpleasant for precious Potter's delicate ears?"

Merlin saw Harry bight his lip and both he and Snape could see the answer that action held.

"I would hate for you to run away with a false idea of your father, Potter," he said, his lips twisting up into a grin full of malice. "Have you been imagining some act of glorious heroism? Then let me correct you—your saintly father and his friends played a highly amusing joke on me that would have resulted in my death in my death if your father hadn't got cold feet at the last moment. There was nothing brave about what he did. He was saving his own skin as much as mine. Had their joke succeeded, he would have been expelled from Hogwarts."

Harry was quiet and even Snape had lost his triumphant smile, the memory apparently too much for him.

"Turn out your pockets, Potter!" he said suddenly.

Harry did not move while Snape and Merlin watched him.

"Turn out your pockets, or we go straight to the headmaster! Pull them out, Potter!"

Slowly, Harry pulled out a bag of Zonko's tricks and an old bit of parchment. Merlin looked at the boy though he kept his gaze carefully diverted.

Snape picked up the Zonko's bag.

"Ron gave them to me," said Harry quickly. "He—brought them back from Hogsmeade last time—"

"Indeed? And you've been carrying them around ever since? How very touching… and what is this?"

Snape picked up the map.

"Spare bit of parchment," Harry answered the unasked question. Snape turned the parchment over, looking at it and then at Harry.

"Surely you don't need such a very _old_ piece of parchment?" he said. "Why don't I just—throw this away?"

His hand moved toward the fire.

"No!" Harry yelled quickly.

"So!" said Snape. "Is this another treasured gift form Mr. Weasley? Or is it—something else? A letter, perhaps, written in invisible ink? Or—instructions to get into Hogsmeade without passing the dementors?"

Harry blinked. Snape's eyes gleamed.

"Let me see, let me see…," he muttered as he took his wand out of his robes and laid the parchment down on the desk. "Reveal your secret!" he said, touching the tip of his wand to parchment.

Nothing happened.

"Show yourself!" Snape said, tapping the parchment sharply.

Once again, nothing happened.

"Professor Severus Snape, master of this school, commands you to yield the information you conceal!" Snape said, hitting the parchment with hi wand.

Incredibly, words started to write themselves across the parchment.

"Mr. Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape, and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business."

Snape froze, and Merlin could not blame him. As they watched, more writing scrawled its across the parchment, this time in a different handwriting.

"Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Moony, and would like to add that Professor Snape is an ugly git."

"Mr. Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a professor."

"Mr. Wormtail bids Professor Snape good day, and advises him to wash his hair, the slimeball."

Merlin held his breath.

"So….," said Snape softly. "We'll see about this…."

Snape walked over to the fireplace, seized a fistful of glittering powder from a jar on the fireplace, and threw it into the flames.

"Lupin!" Snape called into the fire. "I want a word!"

Merlin and Harry watched as a large shape appeared in the fire, rotating very fast, and then, Professor Lupin was stepping out of the flames.

"You called, Severus?" Lupin asked as he brushed ash off of his clothes.

"I certainly did," said Snape, his face contorted with fury as he strode back to his desk. 'I have just asked Potter to empty his pockets. He was carrying this."

Lupin looked at the parchment which Snape pointed out to him, the words from Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs standing out. A guarded look came over Lupin's face.

"_Well?"_ said Snape again. "This parchment is plainly full of Dark Magic. This is supposed to be your area of expertise, Lupin. Where do you imagine Potter go to such a thing?"

Merlin noticed Lupin sending Harry a look, before he answered Snape.

"Full of Dark Magic?" Lupin repeated mildly. "Do you really think so, Severus? It looks to me as though it is merely a piece of parchment that insults anybody who reads it. Childish, but surely not dangerous? I imagine Harry go it from a joke shop—"

"Indeed?" said Snape. "You think a joke shop could supply him with such a thing? You don't hink it more likely that he got it _directly from the manufacturers?_''

Merlin shifted his gaze between the two men, trying to understand the conversation they were having under the one that they were saying out loud. Snape was obviously accusing Lupin of something, but Merlin could not tell what.

"You mean, by Mr. Wormtail or one of these people?" he said. "Harry, do you know any of these men?"

"No," Harry answered.

"You see, Severus?" said Lupin. "It looks like a Zonko product to me—"

Just then, Ron came running into the office. He was panting as he tried to regain his breath.

"I—gave—Harry—that—stuff" he choked. "Bought—it…in Zonko's … ages—ago…"

"Well!" said Lupin clapping his hands together cheerfully. "That seems to clear that up! Severus, I'll take this back, shall I?" He folded the parchment up and tucked it into his robes. "Boys, come with me, I need a word about my vampire essay—excuse us Severus—"

Merlin followed the others out of the small office, aware that Snape's eyes were trained on their backs as they left. Lupin led them all the way to the entrance hall before he spoke.

"Professor, I—" Harry started.

"I don't want to hear explanations," said Lupin shortly. "I happen to know that this map was confiscated by Mr. Filch many years ago. Yes, I know it's a map" Harry and Ron looked amazed, and Merlin must have looked just as confused as he felt because Lupin looked at him with amusement.

"But it seems Merlin did not?" Merlin nodded his head. "Sorry about that Harry, I assumed since he was in the office with you, he knew about it."

"Wrong place, wrong time" Merlin answered.

Lupin nodded his head knowingly before turning back to Harry and Ron "I don't know how this fell into your possession. I am, however _astounded _that you didn't hand it in. Particularly after what happened the last time a student left information about the castle lying around. And I can't let you have it back Harry."

Harry nodded solemnly "Why did Snape think I'd got it from the manufacturers?"

"Because…," Lupin hesitated, "because these mapmakers would have wanted to lure you out of school. They'd think it extremely entertaining."

"Do you _know_ them?" Harry asked, his voice sounding impressed.

"We've met," he said shortly.

"Don't expect me to cover up for you again, Harry. I cannot make you take Sirius Black seriously. But I would have though that what you have heard when the dementors draw near you would have had more of an effect onyou. Yur parents gave their lives to keep you alive, Harry. A poor way to repay them—gambling their sacrifice for a bag of magic tricks. And not just your life-" Lupin nodded towards Merlin causing Harry and Ron to look at him.

"You're not the only one in danger Harry" Lupin said before walking away, leaving the three boys to walk back to the Gryffindor tower.

"I'm sorry" Harry said. "I didn't think about you Merlin".

"It's fine, really. She said she wasn't coming back for a while anyway" he shrugged and Ron and Harry gave him twin looks of confusion but he just shook his head.

"It's my fault" Ron said at last, turning to Harry. "I persuaded you to go. Lupin's right, it was stupid, we shouldn't've done it—"

Ron broke off; they had reached the corridor where he t security trolls were pacing, and Hermione was walking toward them.

"Come to have a good gloat?" Ron asked her, and Merlin assumed she knew aobut the map as well. "Or have you just been to tell on us?"

"No," Hermione said. Her lip was trembling, and she was clutching a letter in her hands. "I just thought you ought to know… Hagrid lost his case. Buckbeak is going to be executed."

**Most of this is what happened in the book, but it was necessary for the plotline to move forward. Please review. **

**Also: I'm glad you caught onto the 'fruit bowl' thing **ArianandXaia


	18. Chapter 18

As soon as Merlin had read the letter Hermione had been holding, he ran to find Arthur and the others. He had to wait until they all came back from Hogesmeade, which was not until later in the evening.

When they did come back however, they were unable to go see Hagrid because the new rules set up since Sirius Black's latest break in. The first time that Merlin was able to see him was at their next Care of Magical Creatures.

Most of the class, Harry, Ron and Hermione stayed near the large Professor, but the others made sure to tell him, once again, that they would do anything they could to help. They could see that nothing they were saying was making him feel better, but they said it anyway. On the way back to the castle, the four, Morgana had been walking with them, too angry at Malfoy to walk with him, they stopped when they heard a crack.

Looking back, they saw Hermione standing an arm's length away from Malfoy who had a red, handprint on his face.

"Wow, she's stronger than she looks" Gwaine said with a raised eyebrow.

"He's going to be sore about that" Morgana sighed as Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle ran from the three friends.

"We need to get to Charms guys, c'mon" Merlin said, breaking everyone away from watching Malfoy run away from Hermione.

Charms class was enjoyable after the news about Buckbeak. Professor Flitwick had them practicing Cheering Charms, which was having a great effect on the whole class.

By the time lunch was over and they were heading to Divination, the charms were wearing off, but they still had the thought of Malfoy running away from a girl with his tail between his legs to cheer them up.

Merlin, Arthur, Gwen and Morgana all sat around one of the tables placed around Professor Trelawney's room, a clear ball sitting in the center.

"Ooh, crystal balls" Morgana said happily.

"I thought we still had a while before we started with these" Gwen said, looking to Morgana who just shrugged and looked back to the sphere.

"Good day to you!" Professor Trelawney said then, sitting with her back to the fire. "The fates have informed me htat your examination in June will concern the Orb, and I am anxioius to give you sufficient practice."

Morgana raised an eyebrow, and whispered to the others "She makes the tests, how is that divining the future?"

Arthur and Merlin laughed while Gwen smirked at Morgana's annoyed expression.

"Crystal gazing is a particularly refined art," she said. "I do not expect any of you to See when first you peer into the Orb's infinite depths. We shall start by practicing relaxing the conscious mind a external eyes so as to clear the Inner Eye and the super consciousness. Perhaps, if we are lucky, some of you will See before the end of the class."

Gwen quickly snatched the crystal from the center before Morgana could, sticking her tongue out playfully at the other girl who smirked, "Go on then, what do you see in my future?"

Gwen looked down into the swirling clouds in the middle of the sphere, letting her eyes follow small patterns, loosing herself in them before looking back to her friend with an airy glance "You shall snatch this ball away from me and actually predict something even though you don't need the ball to do it"

Morgana rolled her eyes and grabbed the ball out of her friend's hand making the dark skinned girl giggle, Arthur and Merlin laughing too "Just as I predicted"

"Ha, ha, very funny, Gwen. You've reached the same level of Divination that our teacher is at, good for you"

From behind them, they heard Professor Trelawney talking to Harry, Ron, and Hermione "Now, really!"

They looked over, not sure what Ron—whose face was turning red as the whole class looked at him—had said to anger Trelawney. "You are disturbing the clairvoyant vibrations!"

She walked forward and looked down into their crystal ball, Harry was already trying to make himself smaller.

"There is something here!" said the Professor "Something moving… but what is it?"

Harry leaned over, trying to see what the Professor was talking about, "My dear…." She said, looking at the boy. "It is here, plainer than ever before… my dear, stalking toward you, growing ever closer… the Gr—"

"Oh, for _goodness'_ sakes!" Hermione snapped. "Not that ridiculous Grim _again!_"

Professor Trelawney stood up and faced Hermione "I am sorry to say that from the moment you have arrived in this class, my _dear_, it has been apparent that you did not have what the noble art o Divination requires. Indeed, I don't remember ever meeting a student whose mind was so hopelessly mundane"

Hermione's eyes opened widely for a moment before narrowing dangerously. She stood quickly "Fine!" she said, stuffing her things into her bag, "Fine!" she repeated, swinging the bag over her shoulder "I give up! I'm leaving!"

True to her word, the girl strode to the trapdoor, kicked it open, and left the classroom.

"Never thought she would just walk out of a class" Merlin mummered and the others at his table nodded in agreement.

"Maybe we should get back to the Crystal ball?" Gwen offered and Morgana looked down in her hands, oblivious to the still fuming teacher who was pacing around the room.

Morgana's eyes were glued to the swirling mass of clouds billowing around inside of the small sphere, her eyes glowing faintly, just barely golden. Her llips tightened as she watched something only she could see, her brow furrowing in…. was that fear?

"I see a…. wolf, standing on two legs…. Howling at a full moon. His shadow is that of a man, standing under the whomping willow. Behind the trunk, a small girl… she doesn't see the wolf, she looking for something… for someone, she's calling out to them.

"It hears her, and it's turning around. It's….it's biting her….There are two shadows… and man and a small girl…."

"What are you talking about!" Professor Trelawney interrupted, placing a hand on Morgana's shoulder, jolting her out of her vision, and scarring her enough to drop the Crystal Ball to the ground, making it shatter at the Professror's feet.

"I—I'm sorry" Morgana stammered, Professor Trelawney looking down at her angrily.

"First you waste your time making up ridiculous stories instead of actually trying to See, and then you break my Crystal Ball?" the Professor asked.

Morgana looked up at the Professor with a dangerous look "Wha—"

"No excuses. Ten points from Slytherin, and detention. Tonight! Clean this up!" she said then looked around the room "Class dismissed!"

As the Knights left the Divination classroom, they could hear Morgana mumbling under her breath as she cleaned up the broken glass about 'no good teachers' and 'Hermione had the right idea'.

Easter break was not as relaxing as Merlin was hoping it would be, instead of laying back, relaxing by the lake, they were spending their time studying for their upcoming exams, or in Arthur and Gwaine's cases, talking about the upcoming match between Slytherin and Gryffindor. It would be the last match of the season and it would decide who won the Quidditch cup. Sadly, the Knights would not be winning this year, but if Gryffindor won by at least twenty points, they would be in second place.

With the excitement about the match running rampant through the castle, the Easter holidays went by in a flash. Without noticing how it had gotten there, Merlin found himself eating breakfast on the day of the Quidditch match.

"Is it just me, or do the Slytherins look worried?" Gwaine asked, smirking over at the Slytherin table where a few of the students were glaring back.

"They haven't won yet Gwaine" Merlin said.

"Give it time" Gwaine replied happily.

"Stop being a pessimist, Merlin" Arthur advised, "Gryffindor's finally going to win the Quidditch cup"

"I'd wait before I let myself get so cocky, Arthur" Morgause said from behind them, "my brother is the Slytherin seeker after all, and he's nothing to laugh at"

Morgana stood next to her, looking bored and not about to step into the discussion.

"Except when he's running away from a girl" Arthur replied, looking up at the witch.

Morgause smirked slightly "I do need to get back at that little mudblood for humiliating the Malfoy name, any suggestions boys?"

Arthur and Gwaine both stood from the table, pulling out their wands as Merlin glared at the witch, Gwaine growling through clenched teeth "Don't you dare go anywhere near Hermione"

"Oh, you're Quidditch name does suit you, doesn't it, the Knights? Chivalry and honor? Living by some forgotten code?" she laughed at them as Morgana's face reddened slightly, unnoticed by Morgause "That mudblood isn't worth my time".

"Belby, Pendragon, put those away!" McGongall said coming up to the small fight, "Miss Malfoy, and Miss Pendragon, why don't you go to your own table or exit the Great Hall if you are done eating"

"Of course, Professor" Morgause said, sending the teacher a brilliant smile before smirking at the three boys and walking away, Morgana following behind her.

"I swear, if she so much as goes near Hermione—" Gwaine broke off with a hiss of annoyance.

"I doubt she'lll be smiling so much when she watches her brother lose to Harry," commented Arthur, still standing. "C'mon, I've lost my appetite"

HE lead the way out of the Great Hall, Gwaine, Merlin and Mordred following him, the rest of the Knights, seeing their captain stalk out of the room also getting up to find out what had made him so angry.

They all sat together, except for Morgana who was sitting with the Slytherins, in the stands, shouting with three-fourths of the student body for Gryffindor's victory. Anticipation rose in everyone as Lee Jordan introduced each member of the team as they shuffled out of the locker rooms, brooms leaning on their shoulders.

Madame Hooch made the captains shake hands before counting down to the start of the game, "Three… two…. One…"

"And it's Gryffindor in possession, Alicia Spinnet of Gryffindor with the Quaffle, heading straight for the Slytherin goal posts, looking good, Alicia! Argh, no—Quaffle intercepted by Warrington, Warrington of Slytherin tearing up the field—WHAM!—nice Bludger work there by George Weasley, Warrignton drops the Quaffle, it's caught by—Johnson, Gryffidnor back in possession, come on, Angelina—nice swerve around Montague—_duck, Angelina, that's a Bludger!_" SHE SCORSES! TEN-ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!"

Angelina punched the air happily, the stands going wild with cheering—

"OUCH!"

Angelina was nearly thrown form her broom as Marcus Flint went smashing into her.

"Sorry!" said Flint as the crowd below booed. "Sorry, didn't see her!"

Flint's head was sent down onto his broom's handle, giving him a bloody nose, by Fred Weasley's Beater's club which he had thrown at the boy.

"That will do!" shouted Madam Hooch who flew between the boys, " Penalty shot to Gryffindor for a an unprovoked attack on their Chaser! Penalty shot to Slytherin for deliberate damage to _their _Chaser!"

"Come off it, Miss!" Fred shouted, but Madam Hooch blew her whistle and Alicia flew forward to take her Penalty shot.

"Come on, Alica!" yelled Lee, "YES! SHE'S BEATEN THE KEEPER! TWENTY –ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!"

"'Course, Wood's a superb Keepr!" Lee went on as Flint went to take his own penalty shot. "Superb! Very difficult to pass—very diffictult indeed—YES! I DON'T BELIEVE IT! HE'S SAVED IT!"

"He really wants this" Elyan commented as Wood threw the Quaffle back into play.

"It's his last year, isn't?" Leon asked the three Gryffindor students who just nodded.

"Gryffindor in possession, no, Slytherin in possession—no!—Gryffindor back in possession and it's Katie Bell, Katie Bell for Gryffindor with the Quaffle, she's streaking up the field—THAT WAS DELIBERATE!"

One of the Slytherin Chasers had swerved right in front of Katie, and instead of grabbing the Quaffle, grabbed her head. The girl cartwheeled in the air, somehow having held onto her broom, but dropped the Quaffle.

Madam Hooch's whistle rang out around the field, and before they knew it, Katie had scored another penalty on the Slytherins.

"THIRTY-ZERO! TAKE THAT, YOU DIRTY, CHEATING—"

"Jordan, if you can't commentate in an unbiased way—!"

"I'm telling it like it is, Professor!"

Just then, Harry started forward, as fast as he could, veering to send Malfoy the other way. The two beaters changed their own directions, clubs raised, they were flying right for Harry. Seeing the oncoming danger, Harry waited until the last moment before flying upwards, causing the two Beaters to collide with each other.

"Ha haaa!" yelled Lee Jordan, "Too bad, boys! You'll need to get up earlier than that to beat a Firebolt! And it's Gryffindor in possession again, as Johnson takes the Quaffle—Flint alongside her—poke him in the eye, Angelina!—it was a joke, Professor, it was a joke—oh no—Flint in possession, Flint flying toward the Gryffindor goal posts, come on non, Wood, save-!"

The Slytherin section roared in approval as the score was brought to thirty-ten in favor of Gryffindor. Professor McGonagall was trying to push the magical megaphone away from Lee Jordan who was saying some very choice words for the whole student body to hear.

"Sorry, Professor, sorry! Won't happen again! So, Gryffindor in the lead, thirty points to ten, and Gryffindor in possession—"

IT was quickly turning into one of the dirtiest games in Hogwarts history. The Slytherins, angered at being behind were using any means necessary to take the Quaffle. Alicia was hit in the face with a Beater club, and George Weasley hit the other Beater in retaliation earning a penalty shot.

When the score had made it up to fifty-ten, the two Slytherin Beaters had gotten so angry they decided to shoot both Bludgers at Wood while the two Weasleys were circling the other Chasers. Wood was hit in the stomach, winding him as he rolled through the air.

Madam Hooch was angry, shrieking at the two Beaters. "YOU DO NOT ATTACK THE KEEPER UNLESS THE QUAFFLEI S WIHTIN THE SCORING AREA!"

Another penalty was awarded to Gryffindor, which was made by Angelina making the score sixty-ten. If Gryffindor caught the snitch now, they would win the Cup, and it looked like Harry had just caught sight of the snitch. Just as he took off, Malfoy jumped from his own broom onto the tail of Harry's.

"Penalty! Penalty to Gryffindor! I've never seen such tactics!" Madam Hooch screeched.

"YOU CHEATING SCUM!" screamed Lee Jordan, avoiding Professor McGonagall "YOU FILTHY, CHEATING B—"

Professor McGonagall grabbed the megaphone, but she did not tell him off, instead, she was screaming, unheard, at the Malfoy, her hat having fallen off in her anger.

In their anger, Gryffindor was losing its concentration, no longer making their penalty shots.

"Angelina Johnson gets the Quaffle for Gryffindor, come on, Angleina, COME ON!" all the Slytherin players, other than Malfoy who was busy tailing Harry, was flying to block Angelina. Harry flew directly into the path of the Slytherins, screaming as he went, clearing a path for Angelina.

"SHE SCORES! SHE SCORES! Gryffindor leads by eighty points to twenty!"

Harry pulled up quickly just as he was about to pelt into the stands, but it was too late, Malfoy was diving and Merlin was sure the boy was not going to make it in time. Harry shot his Firebolt downward, racing it up to its highest speed, catching up to Malfoy.

"YES!" he yelled out as he knocked Malfoy's arm out of the way to close around the little snitch. Merlin stood with the others, adding his voice to the loud roar of applause as Gryffindor won the cup. The Gryffindor team converged on its Seeker, laughing and hugging and yelling out in victory. The whole school spilled out of the stands, gathering around the seven Quidditch players, hoisting them onto their shoulders, yelling and congratulating them.

Arthur stood near the back of the crowd with his own team—minus Morgana—a bright smile on his face as he watched the other team celebrate "Looks like we need to practice a little more, I think the Gryffindor team is getting a bit of a big head already"

The others laughed as the school celebrated the Slytherins losing knowing their Captain was going to push them even harder the next year.

**It's been a while, sorry about that, and this chapter was mostly about the Quidditch Cup, but on the bright side, it's going to start to pick up a little in the next chapter. **


	19. Chapter 19

A week after the Gryffindor team had won the Quidditch Cup the whole house was still silently celebrating. The Slytherins had taken to glowering silently back, to focused—along with the whole school—on the upcoming final exams that they decided to leave them alone for now.

The cool weather was finally giving way to something that actually had the students wanting to go outside, but most of them opted to staying near all of their textbooks for easy references while studying. Gryffindor's common room was likely the second quietest place in the whole school after the library thanks to prefect Percy giving out extravagant punishments to anyone who accidently interrupted him.

Hermione was close to pulling her hair out from stress even after having dropped Divination. She was the only person who the first years were more scared of than Percy at the moment, and Merlin could hardly blame them.

Even Gwaine and Arthur had convinced Merlin to help them with a little bit of pre-exam tutoring so they would be sure not to fail. By the time the first exam was to take place, the whole Knights Quidditch team—not including Morgana who had a fifth year Morgause to help her study—had Merlin practically going over every lesson they had had that year.

By this time, news spread around school that Buckbeak's appeal had been set for the sixth—the last day of exams- and that they were sending an executioner. The Slytherins, led by Malfoy, started using the unpleasant news to get under the Gryffindor's skin, though Merlin was sure it was hitting Harry and his friends the hardest.

…

Exam week started, to everyone's dread or relief depending on the person, the first test being Transfiguration. The third years were let out of the exam at lunchtime on Monday after having been asked to turn a teapot into a tortoise.

"Well other then it drooling tea," Gwaine said as he filled his mouth with food "I think I did pretty well"

"Better than it breathing steam like some kind of dragon. It did look like it enjoyed it though, so I'm glad I didn't have to try and fix it" Arthur commented.

"Kinda wish we could have kept them, you know?" Merlin said wistfully.

"Right, that's what your worried about. 'Course with your incredible powers" Gwaine said sarcastically "it's not like it was that difficult. Right up there with Hermione, worried that it looked a bit too much like a turtle—she would be the one to know the difference".

Merlin just shrugged his shoulders at his friend and before they knew it, lunch was over and they were heading to Charms for Flitwick's test.

Charms were fairly simple, though Arthur—who Merlin had partnered up with—had made his Cheering Charm slightly too strong. Merlin, slightly out of it from Arthur's charm, had the boy in question laughing for hours before the charm could wear off. Gwaine on the other hand, having partnered with Neville, somehow ended up brooding for the rest of the evening, going on about how he should not have bothered acting so happy in front of Flitwick just so Neville would pass with a relatively okay grade.

The next morning had the third years at Care of Magical Creatures, Hagrid being the proctor for the exam. Mind only concerned for Buckbeak, Hagrid gave them a large tub full of flobberworms. He told them that to pass the test, their flobberworm had to live through an hour. Flobberworms are a creature best left to its own devices, so it was the easiest test any of them would have to take.

Hagrid barely talked to anyone other than Harry, Hermione and Ron, he hardly even pretended to check that everyone's worms had survived before he told them that they had all passed.

Potions, which they were taking later the same evening, went just as well as suspected. Snape gave everyone in Gryffindor a lower grade than they earned, and gave everyone in Slytherin a grade that they actually earned. Either way, both sides had plenty of room for improvement, which he wasted no time in telling them.

Midnight found the third years on top of the tallest tower, plotting star charts and yawning—one person even managing to fall asleep. Wednesday morning had them with Professor Binns for the History of Magic exam. That evening had them in the Green houses for Herbology. Merlin enjoyed being in the Greenhouse, even with the pressure of Professor Sprout watching over their shoulders for any mistakes.

With Thursday morning came the second to last exam for most, if not all, of the third years—Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Lupin. Once again, the newest Professor had outshone his predecessors with his way of teaching. His exam was lain out in a sort of obstacle course, outside in the sunlight. They had to wade across a deep paddling pool containing a grindlylow, cross a series of potholes full of Red Caps, squish their way across a patch of marsh while ignoring misleading directions form a hinkypunk, then climb into an old trunk and battle with a new boggart.

Merlin was once again met with his adopted father, still dressed as some medieval King, a torch in hand, ready Merlin's mind said to him, to light a pyre for him to burn against. He only let himself freak out a moment before making the man bald and laughing himself out of the trunk.

"—the Black situation, I was asked to step in" finished a man standing in front of Harry and his friends, wearing a pinstriped cloak.

"Does that mean the appeal's already happened?" Ron asked the man who Merlin recognized as Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic.

"No, no, it's scheduled for this afternoon," Fudge answered the boy, looking at him curiously.

"Then you might not have to witness an execution at all!" Ron said stoutly.

"That's right" Merlin said, stepping up before Arthur could pull him back, "Buckbeak still has time to be proven just as innocent as he really is."

Two more men came out of the door to the castle then, but Fudge paid no attention, instead asking, "What's your name?"

"Merlin Pendragon, and it's nice to meet you Minister" he said politely but he did not hide the glare he was sending at the man.

"An interesting name you have there" the Minister replied, "I'm sure that whatever the truth is about that beast will be found out. We are here for justice after all".

The Minister patted Merlin's head before walking off, the two others following behind, one of them carrying a large axe which had Harry holding Ron back from trying to stop them.

He ignored his friends as he walked away from the scene; seething about how the Minister lied right to his face.

…

After lunch, Merlin and the rest of the Knights went for their final exam—Divination. The rest of third year class was already sitting around the silver ladder that lead up to the tower, the trap door above their heads closed.

"She's seeing us one at a time" informed one of the kids already sitting there, everyone moving over so the Knights could fit in with them. The process was slow, whatever it was, and none of the students were permitted to say as the finished the test.

With so much free time, Merlin sat with his back against the wall and let his mind wander, not really listening to his friend's conversation. Sitting under the Divination room, his thought went immediately to Morgana, and the latest vision she had seen, the one with the wolf.

She had seen a creature standing on two legs with the shadow of a man, a small girl hiding from the monster behind a tree. The description screamed werewolf, but he wondered who it was, knowing Morgana's visions could take seconds or years to come true. This time however, he had a nagging thought that this one was close.

Professor Snape had recently given them an assignment on werewolves, which could hardly be a coincidence. Did he know something? It was common knowledge that there were a few werewolves that roamed the Forbidden Forest, but they were usually nowhere close to the school.

Could a werewolf be hiding in the school, pretending to be a normal person every day, then running around the woods during the full moon, sneaking back into the castle during the day? If so, the teachers would have found out, would have put a stop to it… unless they knew about it. If the teachers had put in safety precautions to keep the wolf from harming anyone… maybe they would allow….

"Merlin Pendragon!" he looked around himself, surprised to find most of the room had emptied and it was just him and Morgana, Arthur smiling at him as he came down the ladder.

"It's not too bad; just say something random and she'll pass you" Arthur shrugged his shoulders before walking down the stairs away from the Divination tower.

Merlin climbed the silver ladder, closing the trap door before walking over to the round table that had been pulled to the center of the room near the large fire place which was the only source of light, all of the windows having been shut and the normal lamps left off. Professor Trelawney sat in her normal high-backed chair, across the table from an empty chair, the center holding one of her crystal balls.

"Sit down my dear, don't be nervous" she said in her normally airy voice, "I have seen that you will do well on this test".

_Well, I'm definitely going to pass then_ Merlin thought to himself as he walked over and sat in the seat across from the woman. She was looking at him through her thick glasses, studying his face as though waiting for him to go into some kind of trance.

Merlin cleared his throat a little louder than he meant too before looking down into the clear sphere, watching the clouds billow about at their own pace.

"What do you see?" she asked quietly, leaning forward, ready to memorize everything he said.

Uncomfortably, Merlin rubbed the palms of his hands against his thighs, trying to dry the sweat pooling there, before sliding closer to the orb, and looking into the gray, swirls of puffy clouds.

Shapes began to form in his mind, the shadows moving around like they had some sense of consciousness, running from something. More shadows, gliding along in an unnatural way, teasing the two normal shadows closer to the bottom of the sphere by floating around them in lazy, yet threatening circles. Ripples, like that of a lake….

"I see two figures at the edge of a lake. They were running, but they can't go any further. Something was chasing them. Dark clouds, floating around them, circling closer, making their way towards the two. Their falling to the ground, each dark shape coming out of the mist to fly over the two figures"

Merlin barely noticed Professor Trelawney nodding her head for him to continue, only noticed the orb in front of him, the scene playing out in its depths.

"Someone is approaching from the other side of the lake" he said, pushing his head closer, trying not too breathe as his breath would leave mist on the sphere, clouding his vision. Leaining in, wanting to know what was about to happen, Merlin suddenly cried out, pushing himself away from the table, reaching up with one arm to cover his eyes as his chair lost balance and he flipped over sending him to the floor, breathing rapidly.

"My goodness," Professor Trelawney exclaimed as she climbed out of her own chair and rounding the table to help Merlin back to his feet, the boy still rubbing his eyes, asking "are you okay?"

"Fine," he answered her "fine. I just wasn't expecting that"

"What was it? What did you see?" she asked.

"It was a bright flash of light, I'm not really sure what happened, but it hurt my eyes"

She looked thoughtful for a moment "From what you described my dear, I think you may have just predicted the capture of Sirius Black and his accomplice"

Merlin looked at her shocked, his eyes still blurry from the flash of light. "Perhaps it was just a fluke, but you did an exceptional job, you've passed with flying colors"

"Uh, thanks?" he said a little hesitantly as she looked at him happily.

"You did very well, and I suggest you get some rest. Sometimes the Eye takes a bit more out of us than we would suspect. If you will send your sister in next… you did very well Merlin, a true seer in the making" she praised.

Merlin nodded his head, making his way out of the small room to where Morgana, Ron and Harry sat waiting to be let in for the test.

"Morgana, she wants you next" he said, sitting down against the wall heavily "I'll wait here for you to finish"

"You okay Merlin?" she asked with a little more concern than he could have guessed.

"Yeah, just a little dizzy, she went a little overboard with the incense" he lied, closing his eyes against the light.

"I'll be back in a few minutes" she said a little dubiously before climbing the ladder herself, leaving him with Harry and Ron.

"Was it that bad?" Ron asked a little worried.

"Nah, just the incense" Merlin answered "she basically already has picked whose going to pass with what grade picked out. Said she _saw_ I was going to do well on my exam"

"That doesn't bode well for me then" Ron answered

"I don't know" Merlin argued "I think she likes you two pretty well. At least better than Morgana. Who knows how this will end"

"She's just jealous of Morgana" said a familiar female voice that had Merlin reluctantly opening his eyes.

"What are you doing here Morgause?" he asked wearily.

"Waiting on Morgana to finish her exam, obviously" she answered "the fifth years have just finished ours. Morgana told me she was nervous, I wanted to be here for her"

"That's nice of you, but I think you might make her even more nervous though, I mean it's pretty hard to concentrate with that scary face of yours being too close" Merlin replied.

"And what about you then?" she asked, her voice rose slightly in anger "trying to listen in with those oversized ears of yours?"

"Yeah actually," Merlin replied "but there's this annoying interference coming from right around where your large mouth is"

Harry and Ron were trying not to laugh as Morgause's face reddened in anger, but they were failing miserably.

"I would be more careful with how you speak to me, Merlin. My family has some powerful friends, and if I were you, I would be trying to get on my good side before it's too late"

"Was that a threat?" Merlin asked, genuinely surprised "Because in case you haven't already heard the stories and rumors, I've already had to face way worse than whatever idiot friends your family has…" he stopped as an idea entered his head "unless it's those same friends that I've already faced…."

Morgause just let one of her eyebrows creep up instead of replying, but it was enough to have Merlin pushing himself up against the wall, aware that he was dealing with someone more dangerous than he had originally thought.

"Care to tell me something, Morgaue?" he asked.

"Depends on what you ask" she replied, her face showing that she knew he had found the double meaning in her words.

"Last year, you and Morgana got sick quite frequently… like everytime one of the attacks would happen…"

She looked a little surprised about the change in subject, but still like she was in control of the situation "Yeah, we had a bad reaction to something, and if I recall correctly, you were also reacting to something at the same time"

"Yeah, I was"

"Maybe we're all allergic to same thing?" she asked innocently, Harry and Ron's curious stares not unnoticed, but also not responded too as the trap door opened and Morgana climbed down the ladder.

"Ron, she wants you next…. Morgause, what are you doing here?" she asked as she saw the blonde standing there.

Morgause looked up and smiled, "I wanted to be here for you, I knew you were worried"

"Thanks," she replied "but, um… I need to talk to Merlin for a second"

Morgause looked a little annoyed at the comment, but she just nodded and took a step toward Harry, so that Merlin and Morgana could move into the hallway and for a little privacy.

Merlin followed his sister around the corner, groaning slightly at having to get up, but asking about her grade anyway "How'd it go?"

"She said I was making too much out of too little, and I needed to be more realistic and not let my mind run away with me. I passed, but barely. Stupid witch, she doesn't understand what she's teaching, I bet she got the job because no one else wanted it" she ranted, but stopped herself after a moment.

"Merlin, I had another vision—"

"Well, that was the point" the boy pointed out.

Morgana shook her head "It was important, and you need to listen. I saw four people standing next to a large cup, the cup was on fire—blue fire coming out of the top. It was Harry and two others. Two boys, one in Hogwarts clothes, another in a fur coat, and a girl in a silky, blue dress all standing in front of a wall of hedges with three openings. Over the top of the wall flew a giant, reptile with leathery wings… Merlin… it was a dragon! " she cried as she saw he wasn't reacting.

"That sounds great, Morgana" he said.

"Why don't you believe me?" she asked, a little worn out after her rant.

"I do, and I know whatever you saw, will come to pass. But I don't have time to freak out about it right now. I can't stop it, we've tried, and it never works Morgana. For now I'll just have to do with having a heads up, and I can't thank you enough for warning me, but there is nothing I can do about it".

She looked ready to cry, but she kept it in, and gave him a quick nod. "Fine then, glad I could give you a heads up. Don't come crying to me when you get eaten by a giant lizard"

With that she stormed back up the stairs only to walk by him again on her way down, this time with Morgause's arm wrapped protectively over her shoulder.

::::

"Morgana… do you want to learn to use your powers?" Morgause asked, stepping closer to the dark haired girl, trying to keep her voice low, unable to with the excitement coursing through her.

"What do you mean, Morgause?" the dark haired witch asked, noticing the blonde clutching a letter in her hands as though it were the difference between life and death.

"The dreams. You still wake up screaming some nights, that class isn't helping you at all, but I may know someone who can"

"Who?" the younger asked, intrigued.

"A family friend who my father has employed to tutor me over the summer, to help me grasp some of the talents I've shown promise of having. Talents very similar to yours, ones she is an expert on"

"She can help me control the dreams?"

"She can help you learn to use the same kind of magic your brother uses" Morgause confided in her. Morgana took a hesitant step back from the fifth year.

"How do you know about him?" her voice trembled slightly over the words, but she did not back up any farther.

"It's not hard to see when you have the same talents" Morgause answered. "No one else notices because they've never seen it before, but I have. It's not really that well hidden. And I've noticed you have it as well"

Morgana shook her head "No, that's just Merlin"

Morgause reached down and took Morgana's hands in her own, making the young girl look up into the older girl's eyes "It's not something to be scared of, not as long as you learn to use it before it becomes too much for you. That's why my father hired this person, and I want you to learn too"

Morgana slowly nodded her head, tears brimming at her eyes "I don't want to wake up screaming anymore"

Morgause smiled sadly at the girl "She can help. She's coming to the school" she lifted the letter for Morgana to see "she's asked me to meet her next to the Whomping Willow. She won't be teaching me until summer, but she wants to meet me before then."

"Why the Whomping Willow?" Morgana asked.

"She's not exactly welcome on school grounds" Morgause said, adding hastily at the girl's expression "a misunderstanding I assure you. One she hopes to clear up soon, the Ministry however is a very busy place and she has yet been assigned a time to talk to anyone about it".

Morgana slowly nodded her head "When do we meet her?"

"Tonight, at sundown"

:::::

Arthur and Modred who were standing around the next corner of the corridor, having stopped when they heard Morgana and Morgause's voices, looked at each other.

"Guess you should know about Merlin's secret now" Arthur said.

Mordred shrugged "You can tell me when he's ready to tell me"

Arthur nodded his head in thanks "I need to find out who those two are meeting… if I'm right, then Merlin's in trouble—again"

"Do you want me to come with you?" Mordred asked.

Arthur shook his head "At least not yet. I need you to find Gwaine, tell him what we heard. Find Merlin and keep an eye on him. If you haven't found him by sun down, come to the Whomping Willow, we'll probably need your help."

Mordred nodded his head "That where you're going now?"

Arthur nodded again "hopefully to find out I'm wrong"

:::::::::

**Well I'm back—then again that's what I said on the last chapter I uploaded. Oh well, here you go, next chapter shows where Merlin is after his Divination exam. I can't believe how many followers I have, I'm glad so many people like my story.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Okay, so if this chapter is a little confusing, I'm sorry. I tried to get everything to fit with the timeline in the book, but I don't know if it turned out realistically enough, but I hope you can at least see what I was going for. Hope you like it :)**

Merlin slowly made his way down the spiral staircase that led to the Divination tower, still tired from having Seen images in the crystal ball. When Morgana had tried to tell him of her own vision, his mind was still reeling from what he had seen so that he could not make any sense of what she was telling him. The look of pain on her face when he had not listened to her was made only worse by the way she had turned to Morgause for comfort so easily.

The boy ran a hand through his short hair, sighing heavily as he rounded the corner to the corridor that would take him to the Gryffindor common room when he heard someone sobbing. Quiet gasps, and hitches in the person's breath were coming from just past the painting to where he could not see. His heart winning out over his tired mind had him following the sounds.

He came to a corridor just around the next corner from the portrait of the Fat Lady, lined with stained glass windows that would move and talk, letting the dying sunlight filter into the darkening halls. A girl with dark hair had her forehead pressed against the pane of one of these windows, crying her heart out, apparently not caring who could hear.

"Freya?" Merlin asked tentatively, walking over to put a hand on her shoulder.

The girl turned around quickly, looking up at him with blue eyes rimmed red and full of tears that had yet to join the others that streaked down her cheeks. She threw her arms around his neck, pulling herself against his chest, the gasps coming louder now even though they were being muffled by his shoulder.

"Merlin!" she cried "I saw them… they did it… the axe… I saw it… Buck—Buckbeak's dead!" her crying hardened, making what she said after unintelligible, but the boy knew he would not have understood anyway.

The words she had just sobbed into his shoulder had blood rushing to his ears, blocking out any other noises that would try to break through. His eyes turned to the stained glass window, forcibly being drawn to the small hut that stood in plain view. He could see Hagrid's pumpkin patch from here—a patch of orange among a green background—and vaguely saw four figures standing next to it. One of them stood larger than the others, another stood in blue robes next to a man in black and another in a blue and white cloak.

Merlin's arms circled Freya's thin form automatically, holding her against him as though she were the only thing keeping him standing, which may have been true. Had he not known that if he let himself fall that she would too, he would have collapsed right there, broken down just as she had. Her shuddering breaths under his hands were enough to keep him from doing this, knowing he needed to stay strong for her.

"Merlin, what do you think Hagrid's going through right now?" he heard her ask, coming back from the rushing sound that had been blocking everything else out. Tearing his eyes away from the scene in front of him, he looked down at the second year.

"Nothing good" he replied.

Freya nodded her head. "I wish we could go see him, to support him, you know?"

"Me too, but the restrictions…."

"More than that though—" she looked down, a blush pushing its way past the angry red that had been covering her cheeks from where she was crying.

"What?" Merlin asked.

"It's just… I want to see Fluffy. I know I'm being ridiculous, and that he's okay… but—" she trailed off, pushing her face back into his shoulder.

"But if that's what they did to Buckbeak because of one stupid student, what would they do if they ever found out about Fluffy?" he finished her thought aloud, her head nodding against his shoulder telling him that he had gotten her thought right.

Bending his neck, he placed his forehead against the top of hers, her hair tickling his skin "I think that's a great idea"

"The restrictions—" she protested, echoing what he had said before.

"That doesn't really matter, does it? Not as much as making sure Fluffy is okay?" he asked. Freya lifted her head, and gave Merlin a small smile.

"I'd like that"

Merlin nodded his head before pulling back from her, but keeping a hand in hers, before pulling her behind him and walking toward the front of the castle.

No one stopped them as they walked out of the front entrance of the castle, and they made not move to try and hide where they were going. At the moment, Merlin only wanted to get to Fluffy the fastest way possible, and if that included getting a detention later on, he was okay with that.

Freya next to him made no comment, instead she squeezed his hand tighter when he showed no intention of trying to hide.

"You can be really brave sometimes, Merlin" Freya commented as they were halfway across the school grounds, the sun diving under the trees as they walked was now barely showing.

"Thanks, I think…" he replied, with a wide grin.

Freya blushed "maybe it's the full moon, but I'm not scared at all of getting caught trying to break the rules"

Merlin's fast pace slowed as she talked, coming to a halt at her last word, their connected hands pulling her to a stop as well. She looked at him curiously until he spoke.

"Did you say full moon?" he asked.

Freya nodded her head "yeah, why?"

Merlin looked straight into her big, blue eyes saying "We need to get back to the castle…._now!"_

:::::

"Morgause?" called a feminine voice, from somewhere under the shadow of the large tree standing in the center of a clearing all by itself. Normally students tended to stay clear of this tree, it being known to knock away any unwanted visitors if they got close enough.

"It's me, you can come out" the blonde fifth year called out, a little worried about stepping forward, having seen what had happened to a few kids foolish enough to try and test their courage against the old tree.

The voice rang out in amusement, the last rays of the sun dying out into darkness "Don't worry about the tree, it has been incapacitated for a while. There is no reason to fear anything if you can finds its weakness" a slim figure detached itself from the trunk of the tree and walked forward, though not enough to make out the face "who is your friend?"

"She's a third year, Morgana. She's shown some signs of having some… special abilities" Morgause answered.

"Can she be trusted?" the figure asked.

"I would not have brought her with me if I did not feel that I could trust her with my life" Morgause replied, throwing an arm around Morgana's shoulder.

"Well then," the figure said as it slowly walked out of the shadows and into a small space of light that was coming from the castle, the sky being covered by clouds "it's nice to meet you Morgana, my name's Nimueh"

"We've met" Morgana said harshly, pulling back from Morgause who let her, too confused to try and reassure her.

"Have we?" the witch asked casually.

"You intruded on my family's Christmas dinner to threaten my younger brother" Morgana replied, adding a moment later in an afterthought "and finally got me away from my magic-hating muggle of a father… perhaps I should thank you for that"

A smile curved Nimueh's red lips up as she looked Morgana over "See? I'm not all bad."

"OF course not, anything that got you away from that man is good, right?" Morgause said, trying to regain her place in the conversation.

"She still threatened my brother" Morgana said quietly.

"He is a danger to himself Morgana" Nimueh said, moving closer to the two girls "his power is great, but he does not know how to use it. He refused my help when I offered, and I hoped threatening him would make him understand that he needs to get control"

"But Gaius—" Morgana tried to protest.

"Gaius does have abilities, but cannot hope to teach someone as powerful as Merlin all he needs to know… or even you"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You have no small amount of power in your own body, and it will need harnessing. I can teach you how, both of you—Morgause is not far behind you—but you will have to want to learn"

"Can you teach me to control my dreams?" she asked her voice quiet.

"If you let me" Nimueh responded, coming close enough to touch Morgana's cheek with her left hand. She let the arm fall, her palm caressing the girl's face, trailing down to her neck, Morgana's eyes tracing the snake curling around her arm, the mouth wide open, its fangs ready to break skin.

" What is that?" the girl asked.

"A mark of my allegiance" Nimueh answered, her tone soothing "it shows to those who know its meaning what I stand for, and what I am"

"You mean it shows that you are able to use Old Magic?" Nimueh nodded in answer.

"Will we get to have the same mark?" Morgause asked, stepping closer to the two witches.

"In time, when things are set back to the way they are meant to be" Nimueh answered, taking her arm away from Morgana to look down at the two girls "I am sorry to say I misled you with my letter. Meeting you was not my only reason for coming here tonight. Like you Morgana, I can see into the future, and I saw that one of my old friends would be coming back tonight, and that he would be important in upcoming times. He is about to arrive—any second now—and I'm going to have to ask the two of you to hide"

"Why can't we meet him?" Morgause asked, looking disappointed.

"Because he is accompanied by people who will know that I am not meant to be on school grounds, and because you are not meant to be out of bed right now. In fact, you should make your way back to the castle before anyone finds out that you are out of bed" the two nodded, if a little reluctantly.

"IF you can find a way to come to the Malfoy's over the summer, Morgana, I would be more than happy to teach you, but perhaps it would be a good idea if you didn't tell anyone that you are studying with me—at least until I can prove my innocence" Nimueh added before letting the two girls run back to the castle.

Turning her back on them once she saw the door open, she faced the small tunnel entrance under the Whomping Willow to wait for her friend to arrive.

::::::

Arthur was empty. His head was clear of thoughts, his ears devoid of sounds, he could not smell or taste any of things around him, his hands were numb and his eyes—though looking forward—saw only blankness.

His sister had just agreed to study under the woman who had poisoned Merlin, and for what—to cure her sleepless nights? She had been living through the insane nightmares her whole life, she could handle them now better than when she was little, yet she still rushed to grab a cure, even if it was from the hands of a murderer.

Did she really believe that the woman accused of being an ally of the man who had killed their mother—his mother, his mind reminded him—was innocent, just because she had said so? Or did she simply not care?

In his mind he saw Morgana's hand clasped in Morgause's, both of their eyes flashing the gold he had seen so many times in Merlin's. How could she betray them like this?

Movement up ahead, where Nimueh still stood in plain view of his hiding spot under the shadow of the dense forest, caught his attention, jerking him back to reality. Nimueh had had the two young witches run away because her friend was about to come, and if Arthur was right, it was likely a friend who followed the same master as the dark witch.

"One wrong move, Peter" he heard the voice of Professor Lupin, warning in tone. His attention was caught by Nimueh raising her wand silently, pointing towards the Defense teacher, who Arthur subconsciously registered was chained to a small pudgy man on one side, the same man being chained to a limping Ron Weasley on his other side.

"_Avada—"_

"_Everte Statum!" _he cut her off before she could finish the curse, sending her body flying forward, landing face first into the grass.

Five heads turned to the sound of the woman screaming as she was pushed down by the spell, all looking shocked to see someone lying on the ground. More shocked however, was Arthur when he saw the woman prop herself up on her elbows and turn her glowing eyes on him from her spot on the ground.

"_Astrice!"_ she cried, and Arthur felt a jerking sensation as his body was lifted from the ground, and flung into a tree. He let out a faint 'oof', but just before everything went black, he saw four of the five conscious people pointing their wands at the witch.

:::::

"Merlin, slow down and explain what's going on!" Freya said, digging her feet into the ground to pull the boy infront of her to a stop.

He turned to her with an impatient look, his eyes roving over the open grounds as though her were looking for some kind of sign of danger.

"The full moon, just like you said. It's not safe to be out here right now" he said, though he said it so quickly, the girl was unsure if she had even heard it correctly.

"What's the full moon have to do with anything?" she asked, stubbornly crossing her arms so he could not try and pull at her hand to get her moving again.

He let out sigh before looking at her "Professor Snape gave us an assignment the other day when he was covering for Lupin. He told us to write a paper on werewolves, while during class he tried to teach us how to identify werewolves. I didn't understand at first, but he was trying to tell us that there is a werewolf at the school, and if it is who I think it is—"

"What? Who do you think it is?" Freya asked, looking concerned.

"I think it's Professor Lupin," at her skeptical look he went on "think about it. The day that he was sick was right after the full moon, and Snape seems to hate him even more than the other Defense teachers we've had. Plus, when he showed the third years how to deal with a boggart, it turned into a full moon, he's a werewolf Freya!"

The girl shook her head "If he were a werewolf, Dumbledore would know"

"That's just it, I think he does know" Merlin responded.

"Why would he let him be a teacher then?"

"Because, he must have put up some kind of protection for the students—I don't know what, but I'm sure Dumbledore had something figured out"

"If he has the whole werewolf thing under control, then why are you in such a hurry to get back?"

"Because, the new restrictions might be part of the way he's keeping Lupin away from us during the full moon" Merlin explained.

"But he didn't put that in place until after Black broke in" she argued.

"That might have just been the excuse he was looking for" Merlin responded.

"You don't know if any of this is true, Merlin" she said.

"Please Freya, you have to trust me. I have a really bad feeling about being outside right now, we need to get inside" he pleaded with her.

She looked at his pleading face, and let her own stubborn façade fall "Fine, we can go back in if it means that much to you"

He smiled at her "Thank you, Freya. I promise to take you to see Fluffy soon, just not right now"

She nodded her head in agreement and held her hand back out for him to take. He was reaching out for her when a sudden shrill shriek broke the air.

They both turned quickly to see a group of people surrounding the Whomping Willow when another yell filled the air.

"Arthur!" Merlin called out, recognizing his brother's voice and setting off in a run to find him, Freya coming behind him. When they reached the top of the hill, a short pudgy man was standing behind a woman whose familiarity sent chills down Merlin's spine, four angry wizards pointing their wands at her.

"Give up, Nimueh, your outnumbered" said an incredibly thin man, with scraggly black hair covering his gaunt face, clothes hanging off of his body.

"Oh Black, when will you ever learn? I'm not about to back down until I've proven my point. How dare they think you were ever a supporter of his!" she screeched at the man. Merlin moved in front of Freya, keeping them hidden in the trees shadow as he watched them argue, his hand wrapping around his wand, ready for them to make the first move.

"Believe me, it's just as insulting on this end as it is on yours" he taunted her.

The witch smirked "I really doubt that"

"Enough of this" harry said then, stepping forward, brandishing his wand at the woman "I don't care who you are, or what you want to prove, I just want Pettigrew!"

Nimueh's attention shifted to Harry "Dear boy, I'd be careful how you talk to like that. You have no idea who I am"

Black shifted his weight so that he was between the witch and Harry "Leave him out of this"

She gave a short laught "But he's at the center of everything, isn't he? Just like his father was, I bet. He's not why I'm here, though, so I'll give you that. Keep him safe while you can Black, you won't have much time together"

Just as Black lunged forward, Lupin grabbed him around his chest, holding him back to the amusement of Nimueh "I wouldn't be so touchy feely, Remus, don't you remember what night it is?"

Just as she said this, everyone's heads turned up to the sky to see the moon, full and bright, come out from behind the shadow of the clouds.

**In answer to the question about whether or not Mordred turns evil—you'll just have to wait and see.**


	21. Chapter 21

"Oh, my—" Hermione gasped, looking over at Lupin who was staring up at the moon as though in a trance "He didn't take his potion tonight! He's not safe!"

Black pushed the two kids—Harry and Hermione behind him, his spell wearing off of Snape making him collapse to the ground—"Get out of here, _now!_"

Harry tried to push forward, "Ron—his leg—"

"I'll handle it, GO!" he shouted pushing them again.

Merlin pulled Freya up against the tree, trying to find Arthur with his eyes, but having no luck.

"Peter" Nimueh said to the man cowering behind her "Time to go"

She threw him her wand, which he caught in the air with a triumphant smile before pointing it at himself. A quick wave and he tossed the wand back to its owner before his body began to shrink and grow fur.

"No!" Harry shouted, but was again held back by Black.

"It's done Harry, you have to get out of here" he said. Harry was shaking his head, trying to get out of his Godfather's grip, and to shake away from Hermione's hands which were trying to pull him back.

"Harry, I think you should listen to him" Ron stuttered from where he sat on the ground, his leg having given out under the weight of his body. Only a few feet away from him, Lupin was doubled over in pain, his head elongating, and his hair growing along the rest of his body.

Nimueh easily caught her wand, and watched with a smirk as the rat that was actually Pettigrew scurried away into the long grass. With a look over her shoulder to find Merlin and Freya watching her from the shadow of the Whomping Willow, she started running after the rat, straight into the forest.

"Merlin, stop!" he heard Freya shout as he took off after the witch. He could hear her feet slapping against the leaf covered ground and her panting breath as she followed him, but he kept going, trying to keep up with the witch.

He could tell she was letting him keep up with her, going just slow enough that he could catch the sight of her red robes in the dark forest. Every few yards he would hear a taunting laugh from in front of him, urging him to keep running after, Freya coming behind him trying to make him stop.

A howl rent the air, making the hair along his neck prickle in apprehension but a moment later it was followed by that infuriating laugh that had him continuing to run further into the woods. Minutes or hours passed, he was not sure, before a second howl made his heart skip a beat and his feet falter. This one was closer. Again it sounded out, quickly followed by one that sounded like it came from where they had left Lupin and the others.

His feet stopped, and he leaned against a tree for support as he tried to catch his breath, Freya coming up next to him in the same condition.

"He's going to try and find the other howl" Merlin told her with sincerity. The essay that Snape had made them write on werewolves had taught him that the werewolf would follow the sound of another's howl if they heard it. He knew that Lupin would be coming to the woods, and likely right to them.

"We need to get out of here Merlin" she panted.

"Nimueh—" he shook his head.

"Would probably kill you if you actually managed to find her" Freya snapped "what were you thinking chasing after her?"

He shook his head again "I don't know…. I just thought… I don't know!"

"She was baiting you—with that look. She wanted you to follow her and now we're out here in the middle of the forest with two werewolves, maybe more!" Freya told him.

"God! I'm an idiot!" Merlin put his head in his hands, "Why'd you follow me?"

"To try and stop you," she responded quickly "now we have to go".

He nodded his head "Right, you're right. Let's go"

Freya held her hand out to him which he took, before she started walking back the way they had come, her wand raised in front of her as she tried to stay as quiet as she could while walking on a ground of fallen leaves and twigs ready to give away their position.

Now that the drive that had kept him chasing after Nimueh had receded, Merlin could feel the danger they were in like it was palpable, ready to be touched. His heartbeat quickened, even after just having calmed down from running, and he found himself pulling Freya behind him so he could lead again.

He kept his wand at the ready, as well as letting his other magic come up, making his eyes flash gold with a spell to help him see through the shadows littering the ground. His eyes kept moving, taking in everything they could, ready to react if anything came.

"Merlin" Freya's voice was a whisper, her breath tickling the back of his neck she had leaned so close to say it "don't move"

He stilled except for his eyes which were trying to find whatever she had seen. All he found in front of them were trees and plants, no sign of any kind of… life….

When Merlin and Freya had first found Fluffy the year before, the forest had gone just as eerily silent as it was now, because it could sense that a predator was nearby. Now, again, the forest was silent and void of life, anticipating something about to go wrong.

Her hand squeezed his, and he returned the pressure, trying to tell her it was going to be okay. He knew it was probably a lie, but he tried to comfort her anyway, or maybe he was trying to comfort himself.

Another howl, this time closer than before, had the two leaning into a tree at their backs, holding on to each other desperately. Merlin dropped his night vision spell, wanting to conserve his energy for when Lupin found them, knowing that he defiantly would.

"Stay back, okay Freya?" Merlin asked, trying to step in front of her but she shook her head.

"No, you're not going to sacrifice yourself for me. I don't care how chivalrous you Gryffindor's are, Hufflepuff's are just as strong" she said.

A smile lifted Merlin's face, even though he knew they were probably about to be mauled by their favorite teacher. Freya's courage had him believing that they might actually make it out of this. He nodded his head to let her know he understood, and they both kept their wand pointing outward, ready to do what they could to stop Lupin from ripping them to shreds.

Panting breath was the first thing they heard before they both started screaming. Sharp claws dug into Merlin's shoulder and a strong arm was lifting him up and throwing him, spine first, into a tree a few yards away.

"Merl—" Freya's voice cut off as Lupin's hand swiped down at her, digging into her back as he brought her forward…

"No!" Merlin yelled, his eyes flashing gold, and sending a wave of power at the beast. It knocked them both into the tree behind Freya, the canine body caging her against the bark.

Her scream could have wakened the whole castle. Pure agony came out of her mouth as a set of jaws clamped onto her shoulder, just under where it connected to her neck. Merlin felt his heart skip a beat as the beast lifted its blood stained teeth out of her convulsing body and sank them in again on her arm, keeping its claws in her side and other shoulder to keep her still.

He was shaking his head back and forth, his mind numb to the point he was sure that it was all a dream. None of this was happening, he was still in bed and Lupin was a normal wizarding teacher. This was not happening.

The numbness kept him from reacting as Lupin's jaws came up again, this time aiming for her neck, ready to kill. He saw the fangs nearing her neck, knowing she would die, but being useless to stop it in his shock, when out of nowhere, a large grey object knocked the wolf off of Freya.

Her body went limp, falling lifelessly to the floor, the only thing that let Merlin know she was still alive was the small convulsions that moved her body every few seconds, but even those were fading. Yips and growls could be heard in the distance, and Merlin found his head turning of its own accord away from the young girl to see what it was that had saved her.

Lupin was standing under a large three headed dog, all three sets of eyes trained on the wolf under them, foaming at each mouth in anger. The wolf was growling back, but it was clearly fearful of the larger opponent, not sure which head it should focus on.

Fluffy's ears were drawn back, his back tense, ready to attack—to kill. That made Merlin respond, because as much as a threat as the wolf was, it was still Professor Lupin.

"Fuffy!" he called "Don't kill!"

The dog's hackles rose, and his ears twitched at the order. His back eased slightly, but his eyes remained on the threat in front of him. He responded to Merlin's words, and the boy knew the teacher was safe from dying as long as he stayed clear of Freya, but he was not sure of how well he would come out of the two canine's stare down.

Picking himself up off of the ground with his hand, the one that did not attached to the shoulder that Lupin had dug his claws into, Merlin slowly walked over to where Freya lay on the ground. Kneeling down next to her, he gently pushed the hair that had fallen out of her eyes, so her face was clear. Even though she was unconscious, her face was drawn in pain.

He reached for his wand, with his uninjured hand, and lifted into the sky and sent an explosion of red sparks flying over the trees, hoping someone would come and find them. The sound of the explosion drew Fluffy's attention, making him look up to see what had happened, just long enough for Lupin to lift a heavy boulder and heave it towards Merlin.

His back to the werewolf, Merlin did not notice the giant rock sailing through the air, and was completely surprised to find himself being knocked down the incline just under where Freya had fallen, a heavy pain traveling through his back as he rolled down the hill.

Leaves and branches scratched at his face and robes, slowing his decent until he stopped in the center of a large bush in a small slope between two rounded hills. His head was turned to a clearing just ahead, where a man stood in front of the lake. Merlin was just barely able to make out that they were at the end of the lake, still too far in the forest to see the castle when the man yelled a spell and a silver stag burst out of the end.

It rushed forward into a circle of hundreds of floating, black figures that had been swooping around a certain spot. At the sight of the deer, the things fled, and if he had not known any better, Merlin could have sworn they had fled in to his eyes as darkness took over his world.

::::::

"Belby!" Gwaine twisted around at the sound of his name to find Snape standing with his wand pointed at Gwaine's chest.

"Uh, fancy meeting you here, Professor" Gwaine chuckled humorlessly.

"Care to explain what you and Mr. Yaxley are doing out here after curfew?" he asked, looking down his hooked nose at them.

"Well, you see sir—" Gwaine stopped trying to find a good excuse when he saw the three people floating on the conjured stretchers behind the Professor "Arthur!"

Gwaine and Mordred both rushed over to where Arthur was lying unconscious on one of the floating stretchers behind Ron and Hermione's.

"You knew he was out here then?" Snape questioned, his dark eyes trained on the two Gryffindor's.

Gwaine looked up, not caring that he had even spoken "Where's Merlin?"

Snape looked taken off guard "What do you mean? I haven't seen Merlin out here"

Mordred looked to Gwaine "We hadn't seen him before Arthur came running out here. He might be somewhere in the castle"

Gwaine gave him an incredulous look "It's Merlin"

Mordred nodded his head "that's a good point"

"Are you saying there's another student out here somewhere?" Snape asked angrily just as a small explosion of red sparks lit the sky up above the forest.

"Merlin!" Gwaine cried about to take off in the direction of the sparks.

"Stop there, Belby!" Snape called, making the boy turn around angrily.

"My friend is out there in the woods, and apparently he needs help, so why should I stop?"

"Because if he's dumb enough to send sparks up to show his location, he's probably about to be attacked by a werewolf, but if you think you can take on a werewolf—"

Gwaine glared at the Professor, but motioned for him to take the lead without saying a word. Smirking, the Professor walked forward, saying over his shoulder "Stay close."

**Well, it was a little short, and I'm sure a lot of you are going to be slightly upset about the whole, Freya thing, but hey! It's an update :)**


	22. Chapter 22

**This is a little short, but I feel like it's a necessary chapter, so here you guys go. **

What woke him was a high pitched whine in his ear, and a wet nose pressing against his side. Seconds later, a large tongue had his whole body covered in dog saliva and he looked up to see a concerned Fluffy leaning one of his three heads over him.

Another whine and the dog's middle head pushed against the boy until he put a hand on its head. The other two heads had their ears perked, and their eyes kept moving over the dark forest, though every so often they would stray down to the small boy to make sure he was okay.

"Hey Fluffy," he said groggily "Good dog" he rubbed his hand through the course, grey fur a moment before leaning his weight on the head to pull himself up. A long groan escaped his lips as a fire burned down the length of his spine, protesting the movement making tears welling up in his eyes.

Another whine escaped the dog, but the middle head stayed perfectly still, afraid that if it moved it would cause the boy even more pain. Merlin buried his own head into the dog's fur, sniffling for a brief second, trying to rein in the distracting pain.

"What happened to Freya, Fluffy?" he asked, not really expecting a response. Pulling his head away to look at the dog however, he did receive one. Each of the three heads were staring intently at the castle, their noses quivering as though trying to point out the direction.

"Someone found her?" he asked gratefully, putting his head back into the grey fur "Thank goodness…. What about Lupin?"

A small growl rumbled through the large body, making the ground shake under their feet, but it died down quickly.

"Nowhere nearby, then" Merlin interpreted. The dog shifted a little and rubbed its head against Merlin's soothingly.

"I need to get back to the castle, I need to find Arthur" he said into the dog's fur. It whined again, but otherwise made no protest. Pulling back again, Merlin kept one arm on Fluffy's side and let the dog lead him out of the forest.

::::::::

"Mr. Belby, Mr. Yaxley, I told you to leave my infirmary thirty minutes ago" Madam Pompfrey said angrily.

"With all due respect," Gwaine said, looking up at the woman from the bed next to Arthur's "No."

Her face reddened in anger and she looked ready to begin shouting but Professor Dumbledore came up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Perhaps it would be beneficial to their mental health if they were allowed to stay near their friends, Poppy"

Madam Pompfrey visibly deflated, air rushing out of her mouth in a discontented sigh "If you say so Dumbledore, but if they disturb my patients, they'll be out of here in a seconds notice, you understand?" she said the last to the two young boys. They both nodded their heads.

"Thank you, Professor" Mordred said from where he sat next to Gwaine.

The professor nodded his head before walking over to the other three occupants of the room.

All three quickly began protesting Sirius Black's arrest, trying to persuade the headmaster of the man's innocence.

"What's going on?" Gwaine asked a barely awake Arthur.

"Whit those three, hard telling" he responded. "How's Freya doing?"

"Same as when they brought her in" Gwaine replied looking at the girl worriedly. "I hope Merlin's okay"

"Knowing him," Mordred said, also looking at the girl in the bed just behind them "he'll be coming to look for her and Arthur any second"

::::::::

Fluffy stopped at the edge of the woods and let out another pitiful whine "No, this is good, thanks. You don't have to go back to the school"

The dog gently nudged its large head against Merlin before slowly moving away. It watched wearily as the boy tried to regain his breath as he leaned against one of the trees.

"Go on, I'll be fine. Go before someone sees you" he said, and with another whine, the dog bounded away into the dark trees.

"Well, this isn't about to get any easier" Merlin said to himself before pushing himself away from the tree and shambling up towards the castle. Long shadows cut through the grounds, still lit up by the full moon which was on the edge of the horizon now, slowly finding its way across the sky. Soon enough its effects would be wearing off of Lupin, and Merlin had no idea of what would happen then.

Black clouds conversed over the sky, floating around the top of the castle, a cold mist settling around Merlin's ankles. Dementors were gathering together, hanging over one of the taller towers of the castle.

_They caught Black_ his mind told him. There would be no other reason for them to be here, and he remembered seeing the man from the posters standing across from Nimueh. She seemed angry at him, ready to kill him.

Merlin watched the dark figures, his eyes tracing one out of the rest as it circled the tower slowly—predatorily. If the rumors were true, then it meant that they were going to perform the kiss soon, and suck out his soul, but Nimueh had said something once about that showing everyone that he was a death eater, when he had been the furthest thing from it.

_He's innocent!_ Merlin found himself thinking _And Nimueh is going to try and kill him before the Dementors can_.

By sheer force of will, Merlin made his legs move faster up the steep slope of the Hogwarts grounds. Knowing nothing about this man, he knew he had to do what he could to protect him from Nimueh, even if in the end he still got his soul sucked out of him.

The sound of his feet on the stone floor of the castle echoed in the halls, but he did not dare slow even if it got him noticed by the teachers. He kept one of his hands on the wall, trying to steady his body as the other stayed around his waist, trying to keep himself together.

He was sure he was going to pass out by the time he had climbed the first flight of stairs, but he kept going, not listening to his protesting body. Two more flights and an endless amount of empty corridors had him sure that the man must already be dead, but just ahead of him, rounding a corner was a woman in red robes.

"Nimueh!" he shouted as loudly as he could, a shock of pain traveling the length of his spine.

Faint footsteps he had not noticed at first stopped, before starting again, now coming back towards him. The dark haired woman came back around the corner and stared at him, a smirk gracing her lips.

"I can't tell if you're brave or stupid Merlin" she said.

"A bit of both" he choked past the pain, most of his weight being supported by the wall.

"You look like death" she commented "maybe a little more pale…."

"And you look like you're about to go murder an innocent man" he replied.

"Come on now, Merlin. If anything, it's a mercy killing. What the dementors do, it's worse than death. He'll be soulless, a husk of his former self, nothing left than a fake existence to scare others into staying in line. Death would be so much better, and besides, it would clear his name"

"It's still murder, and I'm not letting you kill him!" he snapped.

Her eyes narrowed as she looked at him, sweat beading his brow, his shoulder being supported by the stone walls, his face void of color and his eyes bloodshot. "You're in no condition to stop me. In fact, it'd be pretty easy to take you right now, while you're too powerless to stop me and no one's around to help you"

"I'm plenty strong to deal with you" Merlin lied through his teeth, trying and failing to ignore the way his heart sped at the threat the woman posed.

"Oh, really?" she said, taking a step forward. Raising her palm to face the young boy, she let her eyes glow and incanted a spell "_Forbærne yfel"_

A half ring of fire sprung to life, closing in on Merlin's feet, making him push agaisnt the wall, his eyes widening at the heat. He felt his breath catch as his eyes glued onto the flames reaching for him. The heat washed over him, blood rushing to his face, he found himself panting in fear.

"Scary, isn't it?" Nimueh asked, her voice soft and closer than before as she stepped up next to him, just outside of the ring of fire.

"This is what fate our kind used to have to look forward to if ever they were found out. That or a worse fate at the hands of their own kind if they angered each other, it was harsh in those days, though I know you cannot remember. It was horrible Merlin, and if we're not careful, it could happen again.

"You think that everyone joined the Dark Lord in some kind of play for power? You're wrong. I believe in what he stood for, in the need to protect our own kind against the muggles. You, yourself have seen the hate in them at our expense, so why do you not understand. Muggleborns and blood traders are dangerous to our way of life. The more there are, the more muggles—muggles like Uther—will learn about us.

"It will keep going until there is nowhere for us to hide. We'll be hunted once again. He wants to stop this Merlin, and you could help."

Merlin shook his head against the wall "N-n-no. They aren't all like that"

Had he looked over, he would have seen her eyes were sad, but his attention was to focused on the ring of fire at his feet "Do you wonder why the form your boggart takes is that of Uther?"

"H-h-how?" he stammered, still trying to back away from the angry heat.

"I didn't… but it wasn't hard to guess" she answered. A gust of cold air blew through the corridor and the fire died, leaving a circle of ash around Merlin's feet.

"He's escaped" Nimueh said, her voice low, or maybe it was just Merlin's ears. An edge of darkness was creeping into his eyes. His legs were weakening, his body slipping down the wall. He felt, rather than heard or seen the woman leaving his side as another person turned into the hallway.

A faint whisper of his name being echoed around his brain was the last thing he registered before he was in complete darkness.

:::::::

"You know," Gwaine stated as he and the two other boys looked at the opening doors that were just entered by Harry and Hermione, "I think Merlin's getting just a little bit predictable"

Snape walked into the large hall with another floating stretcher following him, this one holding an unconscious Merlin.

"Is there any student _not_ coming to my infirmary tonight?" Madam Pompfrey grumbled before hurrying over to attend to Merlin as his three awake friends' watched on worriedly.

:::::::::::::::::::::

**In response to a question most of you are probably wondering : **_**Can Fluffy and Merlin actually understand one another?**_** Well that's up for your own interpretation. It could be just the stress and Merlin's mind filling in blanks that he might have subconsciously taken in while being unconscious, or they could actually be talking—either way you want to take it. **


	23. Chapter 23

Merlin woke the next morning to the warm feeling of sunlight tickling is cheeks with heat and the sound of soft sobbing to his left. Blinking sluggishly, he let his head fall to the left side to see a haggard looking Professor Lupin sitting in a chair at the foot of one of the hospital beds.

"Professor Lupin?" he asked. The man jerked up from his slouch to look at the boy with red rimmed, bloodshot eyes, tear trails falling down both sides of his face. Dark shadows loomed under those eyes and his skin was pale. All over he looked unhealthy, his grief only making it worse.

"Merlin, you're awake" he said, letting the tears fall but not letting it effect his voice.

"Yeah… I guess" he answered. Lupin actually smirked at this, but it did not reach his eyes.

"I'm surprised you're not freaking out on me" the teacher confessed "especially with you waking to find me sitting at the foot of the bed of the girl I attacked the night before".

His voice was full of self-loathing and condemnation. He rested his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, looking defeated.

"It wasn't you" when he looked up at the boy between his fingers, Merlin added "or at least not completely. It was the moon—the animal in you. Right now though, you're in control, right?"

"As much as I can be" the Professor responded glumly.

"Then I have no reason to be afraid. For her or myself" he answered.

"Thanks for worrying about me" said a cocky voice from the bed on the other side of Freya's.

"Arthur?" Merlin asked, not ready to try and sit up.

"Who else?" The boy asked as he pulled himself up to sit on his bed so he could look over Freya at his brother. "You had us worried when we saw Snape leading your unconscious body through the door last night"

Merlin gave a short laugh "You had me worried when I heard you screaming"

"Yes well…." Arthur trailed off.

"It's too early for you two to be catching up on whatever trouble you've gotten yourselves into" grumbled an irate Gwaine from a cot across the room, next to him sat a bleary eyed Mordred, nodding his head in agreement.

"So it was Snape who found me?" Merlin asked, ignoring the two other boys across the room.

Arthur nodded "Yeah, when Gwaine and Mordred told him you were missing, he didn't stop for more than five minutes to gloat about saving everyone else before running off to find you. He looked really worried, actually. I've never understood why he likes you so much"

"It's because I'm good at potions" Merlin shrugged his shoulders, but winced as it made his back ache.

"Careful, Madam Pompfrey said you wouldn't be good enough to start moving until this evening" Gwaine said, crossing the room to sit on the edge of Merlin's bed, Mordred coming over to Arhtur's.

"Sorry I didn't invite you to join in my adventure last night Gwaine" Merlin smiled at the boy.

Gwaine replied with a dramatic sigh, glancing down at Merlin "Guess I can't blame you, what with taking out a beautiful girl into a dangerous situation, but you're going to have to make up for it mate"

"Sure thing" Merlin chuckled at his friend.

"How are you all okay with this?" Professor Lupin looked around at the group of boys, memories of a similar group that was so different coming to mind. He could see James and Sirius in Arthur and Merlin, himself in Gwaine, and Peter in Mordred though he loathed to connect the two in any way.

"You didn't mean it" Arthur responded "and no one died. There's nothing to feel bad about, and nothing to hold a grudge against"

"He's right," Gwaine said, looking at his teacher "You're a good man, that isn't changed because of something you can't control"

"But… you've seen what I've done-"

"Would you all give it a rest?" grumbled a female voice from between them. They all looked at the middle bed where Freya was eyeing them angrily "this is a Hospital Wing, not the Great Hall. If you want to have you're little reunion or pep talk or whatever this is, then go somewhere that you won't be keeping me awake"

"Freya!" Merlin said happily.

"Merlin" she replied, her tone softening from her annoyed voice from before.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I want to sleep for a week" she replied before pulling herself up to lean agaisnt the headboard of the bed "but apparently that's not about to happen, is it?"

Three boys shook their heads in amusement as she sighed heavily through her nose.

"Well, as long as I'm awake, I guess I should go ahead and talk to you about this, Professor"

Lupin stiffened in his seat before bowing his head, ready for whatever the young girl sitting before him would say.

"I forgive you"

"What?" his head popped up, his eyes glued on the young girl's face.

"You heard me, even though there's nothing to forgive, like Arthur said. I forgive you"

He shook his head "You say that now, but you've only had a night to recover, you don't understand—"

"That's why you're going to teach me" she replied and at his confused look, she began to explain "I'm not sure how long you've been like this, but you must have more experience than me, so I want you to show me how to live as normal a life as I can. I know it will be hard, but I have to do it, it's who I am now and I can do nothing but except it."

"See, she's forgiven you, so there's no reason to keep beating yourself up over it, right?" Gwaine asked.

Again, Lupin shook his head "It's so much more than that though, what I've done to you—there's nothing… I never wanted…"

"Let me tell you a story Professor" the girl said, her voice taking up the whole room as though it were the only thing in existence it was so strong "the story about the ancestor I was named for.

"My Grandmother comes from a long line of druids who were said to be alive in the days of the original Merlin" at this she gave a shy glance to the young boy laying in the next bed "In that time, a young woman was cursed by a witch whose son she had killed in self-defense. Apparently the man was cold hearted and took what he wanted, but in the eyes of his mother, the woman had taken her only son and she had to be punished.

"She was cursed to take the form of a beast everynight, blinded by bloodlust and unable to turn back until it had been sated. The beast was so fearsome that the girl was exiled from her band of druids who are a people known for never turning away those in need of help. She was alone and hunted by those that feared and hated magic. It was not long before she was caught, ready to be sold to her death for a pretty penny.

"But she was saved, by a young man that could see through the curse, to the girl behind the beast. They fell in love, but that was not enough to stop the curse. She began terrozing his home, unknown to the boy. His guardian however began to piece the clues together and told the King. He sent his son, the boy's closest friend, to find and kill the beast.

"It was one fatal blow that ended her life. She died in his arms after he bore her to the side of a lake, a place that was special to her. There they exchanged their last words and her spirit left this earth. Her sister felt the spirit leave, but not before it left the story in her heart, to pass down to future generations.

"It's a story meant to remind my family, that there is always something under the monstrous exterior, and not all is lost when that is all that can be seen. Sometimes it just takes the right person to break through to the heart.

"My favorite part of the story though, is that the woman's name was Freya. I've always felt connected to her, because of my name, but now I think it's something more than that. I need you to help me, Professor. The Freya from that time had no one to help her tame the beast, and as such she was slain, and I want to make up for her mistakes" she glanced back at the boy again, her cheeks coloring "I want more time with my Merlin than she had with hers"

::::::::::::::

Freya lay curled up against Merlin's side, her head pushed against his shoulder, with her cat carrier in her lap. The small tortoiseshell was pushed up against the edge of the cage, its ears pressed against its head.

"I don't think she likes my new werewolf smell" Freya commented as the train started to move. She sighed before pushing the carrier into Merlin's lap, seeing the cat calm down a little "Can you keep her for a while, just until I get this under control?"

"Of course" Merlin replied too quickly making her smile in appreciation.

"Thanks Merlin."

"It's going to be so lonely next year without you" Gwen said forlornly from across the compartment where she sat with her thigh just brushing against Arthur's.

"And Professor Lupin, I doubt we'll find a better teacher than him" Arthur commented.

"I know, and I feel bad about that, but no one's going to be wanting two werewolves at the school their trusting their kids too" Freya commented.

"It's fine as long as you take the wolfsbane potion though" Merlin said.

"but then there's the one time you don't take it" Freya reminded him unnecessarily. "Promise to visit Fluffy for me?"

He nodded his head "Promise to write me whenever you can?" she nodded back.

The rest of the trip was spent going between the two compartments that held the four friends and the rest of the Knights—except for Morgana who was sitting with Morgause. They talked about what they planned for the summer, and about how much each had to write to the others and the newest gossip in the Wizarding world.

Time flew by, and before Merlin knew it, he was being hugged by Gaius and being led home along with Arthur and Morgana. They spent the rest of the day telling Gaius about the school year, skipping over some things that they hoped the headmaster had not already informed him about, and enjoying being home.

It was dark before they even thought about going to sleep, and many hours later before they actually did. Walking into his own room, Merlin found everything just as he left it, a large mess. He smiled, knowing that Gaius would be getting onto him in the morning about cleaning it up, but was likely not actually going to make him.

Walking over to his bed, he saw a small piece of paper laying on the bedside table and picked it up to see a small note written in a scrawling, but elegant hand.

_You've come a long way since we met, Merlin. I can't wait to see how much stronger you get next year, just know I'm always watching._

_ Nimueh_

**And end of book three—finally. That took a long time, but finally I get to start on book four, and you know what that means: Dragons! I've been looking forward to putting Merlin's dragonlord powers into this series, because really, if Voldemort thought he powerful before, seeing him able to interact with dragons, well… And not only is the Dark Lord interested, but the Ministry has its eye out for possible (if not completely willing) allies of its own. **

** Oh, and no, I'm not just going to make it to where the cup does not have Cedric as one of the Champions. He will be—but, well… you'll just have to read to find out. **


End file.
